Former Swansea councillor jailed for sex offences

Rene Kinzett was a parliamentary candidate for Swansea West in 2010

A former Swansea councillor has been jailed for 45 months for online child sex abuse offences committed between 2008 and 2017.

Rene Kinzett was sentenced for 14 offences after being caught with hundreds of images of children.

The 43-year-old is the former leader of the Conservative group on Swansea Council, and was a parliamentary candidate for Swansea West in 2010.

Charges included distributing, making and possessing child abuse images.

The last charge on the indictment related to encouraging people to stream child abuse on an online chat room in September 2017.

Rene Kinzett was sentenced at Snaresbrook Crown Court

Judge Neil Sanders said he could only hand out a custodial sentence due to the seriousness of the crimes.

"The defendant was involved in a process which facilitated sharing indecent images," he said.

"These are children who have had these things done to them."

He also ordered an "indefinite" sexual harm order, and Kenzitt is now prohibited from using an internet-enabled device unless its history can be observed and not deleted.

He was also banned from contacting anyone online under the age of 18.