Police officer Lewis Edwards demanded sex images on Snapchat
- Published
Lewis Edwards targeted girls as young as 10
A police officer who groomed 200 girls online repeatedly asked his victims to take sexual images in their school uniforms.
Lewis Edwards, 24, used fake Snapchat accounts to make "prolonged, shocking and predatory" contact with girls aged 10 to 16.
He refused to appear for sentencing at Cardiff Crown Court on Monday and Tuesday.
Edwards was caught with more than 4,500 indecent images of children.
He was a police constable during most of the offences but was barred from policing following a misconduct hearing.
The court previously heard that Edwards, from Cefn Glas, Bridgend, was in contact with 210 girls in total, with images of 207 of them recovered from his multiple devices.
He would threaten the girls, telling them he would publish their images or harm their families if they did not do as he asked.
Lewis Edwards pleaded guilty to more than 100 charges
Edwards joined South Wales Police in January 2021, and the offences spanned November 2020 until February 2023 when he was arrested.
He pleaded guilty to 160 charges of blackmail and child sexual abuse, as well as one count of refusing to provide pin codes to some of the devices seized.
Warning: Article contains descriptions of child sexual abuse
Roger Griffiths, prosecuting, told the court "incoming photos were received on [Edwards'] phone on at least 30 occasions while he was on duty".
He said two sisters aged 13 and 15 were among his victims.
The younger sister sent him images of her bottom and breasts and a video of her in a sexual act.
He saved these images "in her file", on his devices, Mr Griffiths said.
Speaking in court, another victim, who was 13 when Edwards contacted her, said the contact began when she was about to start at a new school.
She sent images to Edwards, thinking he was a teenage boy, and he told her she was "perfect" and asked her to take sexual pictures in her uniform.
"I was vulnerable because I really wanted to make new friends. I thought I was talking to a really nice boy who liked me lots."
She added she was "just trying to please him" after he told her stories about bad things happening in his life.
When she said she no longer wanted to send pictures, she said he "threatened me and my family".
"I will never get over this trauma," she said.
The defendant contacted victims using the social media platform Snapchat
Mr Griffiths said that in response to images sent by one girl of her carrying out sexual acts, Edwards sent her a message which read: "Good girl, but get that top off.
"If you try and waste time I will share everything. I'm waiting. Don't reply unless it's a video."
One victim could be heard saying in a video "please can we stop, please I am begging you", Mr Griffiths said.
Edwards responded by saying the girl should stop covering her face, and make the videos longer.
Speaking about one 12-year-old victim, Mr Griffiths said: "He asked her to put her school uniform on and video herself dressing out of it, until she was naked."
He added: "He said he had done this to other people before and those people had killed themselves so he didn't care if [she] killed herself."
The messages were sent late at night and lasted until the early hours of the morning.
In a message to Edwards, the girl said: "I am terrified, I have done everything you've asked."
Cardiff Crown Court heard Lewis Edwards possessed more than 4,500 indecent images
In an audio recording played in court, Edwards could be heard saying "I wish I could just watch these forever" as he watched sexual videos sent to him by a 13-year-old girl.
"Don't save them," she said, and he promised he would not, before telling her to turn her camera on.
Mr Griffiths said one girl, who was targeted at age 15, was the only victim to "resist all requests for images" but was also the only one who was "contacted directly through his duties as a police officer".
The oldest victim, 16 at the time, would be "harassed" with calls and messages from Edwards.
"He would ask her to turn her location on [and] would get frustrated when she turned the location off."
Mr Griffiths said the parents of the youngest victim, aged 10, shut down her Snapchat account, but when she set up another Edwards contacted her again under a different name and threatened to release the images if she did not send more.
One victim told her father that she had sent someone a sexual image on Snapchat and he was asking for more.
The father took her phone and messaged Edwards, telling him to "stop now, what you're doing is illegal".
Edwards responded with "lol", so he replied with a photograph of himself, captioned: "Just in case you think I'm joking I'm her dad stop now."
"From there he sensed the individual seemed to panic. They begged 'please don't say anything I won't share then. I won't do anything'," Mr Griffiths said.
Mr Griffiths became emotional as he read a statement from the mother of an 11-year-old victim who is undergoing medical treatment and said "time was precious".
She added: "As a mother I am heartbroken. The last few months should have been a time when I could make memories and spend quality time with our children."
Susan Ferrier, defending Edwards, said her client admitted "destroying people's lives" and no mitigation could make up for his "prolonged, shocking and predatory offences against young girls".
She said there was no suggestion that Edwards, who lived with his parents, abused his position as a police officer during his offending and he had been assessed as having a "lack of emotional maturity", depression and anxiety.
"He couldn't stop himself. He knew that it was wrong."
The sentencing hearing continues.
If you have been affected by any issues raised in this article, help and support can be found at BBC Action Line
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