A man caught with hundreds of child sex abuse videos and pictures on his phone was released on bail and went back to offending, a court has heard. While police were examining phones they had seized from David Lewis, the defendant began chatting online with someone he thought was a 12-year-old girl, asking her to send him pictures of her in her school uniform. He then made a silent video call in which he masturbated in his bathroom.
Judge Describes Lewis as ‘Committed Paedophile’
A judge at Swansea Crown Court said it was clear from everything he knew about Lewis that he was a “committed paedophile”. The defendant’s advocate said his client was “struggling to come to terms” with how he had behaved.
Craig Jones, prosecuting, told the court that on August 6 last year police executed a search warrant at the defendant’s home address and seized a number of mobile phones. An initial “triage” examination of the devices revealed the presence of indecent images, and as a result Lewis was arrested. After being interviewed, the defendant was released on bail while a full download of the phones was undertaken. One of the conditions of his bail was that he was prohibited from having unsupervised contact or communications with anyone aged under 18.
Hundreds of Indecent Images Found on Phone
The court heard that a detailed examination of the phones found hundreds of indecent images including 263 Category A images showing the most extreme kinds of child sexual abuse and rape, some 246 of which were film clips. Officers also found Lewis had shared images of child abuse with others on the encrypted messaging app Telegram.
The prosecutor said in November last year – and while still on bail – Lewis initiated contact with a Snapchat profile purporting to be that of a 12-year-old girl. In fact, the profile was being operated by an undercover police officer.
Lewis Pretended to Be 20-Year-Old to Decoy
The court heard 42-year-old Lewis told the decoy he was aged 20 and began asking her for pictures including pictures of her in her school uniform. He also told what he thought was a child to go into the toilets at school and send him a photo of herself with her shirt open, and asked for pictures of her bum. The court heard Lewis sent the decoy a picture which he said was of him but which was in fact a stock photo taken from the internet of a much younger man.
The prosecutor said the defendant continued to send messages asking for pictures of the child and pictures of her friends, and he told the decoy he thought she was beautiful. He then made a video call during which he masturbated on camera and did not speak. Contact between the defendant and decoy ended on November 17 with Lewis either deleting the contact or blocking the number.
Arrested at Work, Bathroom Matched Video
The defendant was arrested on January 29 this year at his place of work and taken to Haverfordwest police station. Police then searched Lewis’ home, and during the search officers noted that his bathroom matched the background seen in the masturbation video call he had made to the decoy.
David Lewis, of Ashdale Lane, Pembroke, Pembrokeshire, had previously pleaded guilty to possession of indecent images of Category A, possession of indecent images of Category B, possession of indecent images of Category C, distribution of Category A images, attempting to engage in sexual communications with a child, and attempting to cause a child to watch a sexual act when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has no previous convictions.
Sentencing: 60 Months in Prison
Dan Griffiths, for Lewis, said the defendant was “struggling to come to terms” with how he had behaved, and said he would welcome any intervention that could be offered. Judge Paul Thomas KC told Lewis that it was clear from everything he had read and heard about him that he was a “committed paedophile”. He said the images found on the defendant’s phone were of real children somewhere in the world being sexually abused in “unspeakable ways” so people like Lewis could masturbate over the photos and videos. He said if it wasn’t for people like Lewis and the “market” they provided for such material, the children would not be abused.
With discounts for his guilty pleas, Lewis was sentenced to 60 months in prison comprising 16 months for the image offences and 44 months for the communications offences to run consecutively. The defendant will serve 40 per cent of the sentence in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community. Lewis will be a registered sex offender for life, and was made subject to a 10-year sexual harm prevention order.
