Ian Watkins sentenced to 35 years over child sex offences
Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins has been sentenced to 35 years for child sex offences including the attempted rape of a baby.
Watkins, 36, from Pontypridd, pleaded guilty to 13 child sex offences at Cardiff Crown Court in November.
He will spend 29 years of his sentence in jail with the remaining six on licence.
His two co-defendants, mothers of the abused children, were also jailed for 14 and 17 years.
Speaking before sentence, Mr Justice Royce said the case broke “new ground” and “plunged into new depths of depravity”.
Watkins was sentenced alongside the two women known as Woman A and Woman B who also pleaded guilty to child abuse charges.
Woman A was jailed for 14 years and Woman B was sentenced to 17 years in prison.
Watkins admitted the attempted rape and sexual assault of a child under 13 but pleaded not guilty to rape.
He also admitted conspiring to rape a child, three counts of sexual assault involving children, seven involving taking, making or possessing indecent images of children and one of possessing an extreme pornographic image involving a sex act on an animal.
During sentencing, Mr Justice Royce said the case “plunged into new depths of depravity”.
“Those who have appeared in these courts over many years see here a large number of horrific cases,” he said.
“This case breaks new ground. Any decent person… will experience shock, revulsion and incredulity.”
He added it was a “classic case that the evidence was so overwhelming” there should not be credit given.
The judge said Watkins had a “corrupting influence”, and had shown a “complete lack of remorse”. He also said Watkins posed a significant risk to the public in particular to women with young children.
He told Woman A: “What you were both doing is both sickening and incomprehensible” and said to Woman B that she did not regard her child as a human being.
Meanwhile, South Wales Police are investigating whether Watkins also committed offences in Germany and America and the IPCC has confirmed it was investigating three police forces over the case.
