A predatory paedophile police officer who incited more than 200 young girls to send him degrading pictures and videos of themselves over Snapchat has been branded “cruel and sadistic” as he received 13 life sentences.
Lewis Edwards posed as a teenage boy to groom 210 girls aged between 10 and 16 and forced them to send him indecent images of themselves that he secretly recorded.
He then blackmailed many of his victims with threats to tell their family and friends unless they sent increasingly graphic content and even sent them videos of him performing sex acts upon himself.
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The 24-year-old also threatened to bomb the house of one of his victims and shoot her parents if she stopped sending him images, Cardiff Crown Court was told.
Many of his victims have suffered at his hands, self-harming, feeling suicidal and developing anxiety and depression.
One was so traumatised she slept with a hammer under her pillow.
Judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke, the Recorder of Cardiff, imposed 13 life sentences for each of the most serious offences and imposed a minimum term of imprisonment of 12 years.
“He has caused significant harm to the victims, to their parents, their siblings and their wider families,” the judge said.
“It is clear that he not only gained sexual gratification from his offending but that he also enjoyed the power and control that he had over these young girls.
“His reaction to their distress can properly be described as cruel and sadistic.
“His offending is significantly aggravated by the fact that he was a serving police officer.
“Many of his victims and their families have said that his actions have caused them to lose trust in the police.
“There is no doubt he has caused significant harm to the reputation of South Wales Police and to policing generally.”
Lewis Edwards was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 12 years for his crimes (South Wales Police/PA)
Lewis Edwards was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 12 years for his crimes (South Wales Police/PA)
Many of the victims and their families sat in the packed public gallery for the hearing but Edwards had refused again to attend, with the judge saying she did not have the power to force him to appear.
Edwards, who joined the force in January 2021 and has since resigned, had previously pleaded guilty to 22 counts of blackmail, 138 child sex offences and a further offence of refusing to disclose the password to a mobile phone and USB stick.
The court heard all but one of the victims were abused while he was a serving police officer, and he targeted one teenager just 17 days after meeting her as part of his duties.
Investigators found that on 30 occasions, Edwards was in contact with his victims while on duty.
Detectives raided the home Edwards shared with his parents in Bridgend, South Wales, in February this year and seized mobile phones, a computer, USB sticks and a hard drive.
Police found he had forced the girls to expose their breasts and genitals and to perform sex acts on themselves over Snapchat, which he then secretly recorded and used for blackmail.
The court was shown some of the videos Edwards had recorded of his victims and in one, a teenage girl can be seen crying and wiping tears from her eyes.
In a victim impact statement, the girl described Edwards as a “paedophile” and added: “I was a little girl.
“I feel embarrassed, disgusted and abused. I lost my innocence.”
In another clip, Edwards can be heard masturbating as he encourages his 12-year-old victim to do the same.
We have extra protections for under-18s and recently added a new pop-up warning for teens if they are contacted by someone who they don't know
Snapchat spokeswoman
Several victims said their trust of the police has been shattered.
One girl said: “You are supposed to trust the police and he did this to me. I really hate him for what he has done.”
The mother of one child added: “The smirk he gave us in court shows that he has no remorse.
“I do not think he can or will have any understanding or care how he has impacted his victims.
“Lewis Edwards, I want you to know that as a family we will never forgive you and we feel nothing for you but hate.”
In a statement released following the case, a spokeswoman for Snapchat said the social media platform had recently added a new warning for teenagers.
“Any sexual exploitation of young people is abhorrent and illegal and our hearts go out to the victims in this case,” she said.
“We work in multiple ways to detect and prevent this type of abuse including using cutting-edge detection technology, and we work with police to support investigations.
“We have extra protections for under-18s and recently added a new pop-up warning for teens if they are contacted by someone who they don’t know. Our Family Centre allows parents to see who their teens are talking to.”
Edwards, of Heol Ty Cribwr, Cefn Glas, Bridgend, previously pleaded guilty to 161 offences, including blackmail, inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, making a child watch a sex act, demanding indecent images of children, and making indecent images of children.
