A FORMER police officer who was sacked before being sentenced to life in prison for online child sex offences has appeared in court charged with further offences.
Lewis Edwards, aged 24 from Bridgend, was jailed in October 2023 for 161 offences after he repeatedly tormented, coerced and blackmailed more than 200 children into taking sexual images and videos of themselves and to engage in sexual activity.
Edwards had threatened and blackmailed the girls, saying if they did not comply, he would send images to family and friends or post them online. He also threatened to cause harm to one teenager’s family by bombing their house and shooting her parents if she refused to send him additional images of herself, the court was told.
He was charged with perverting the course of justice by concealing mobile phones and three further charges of possession of indecent images. The images were discovered after a mobile phone belonging to Edwards was found concealed in the garden of his home address. He had contacted the children aged between 10 and 16 by posing as a 14-year-old boy using fake Snapchat accounts.
At Cardiff Crown Court on Tuesday, 17th December, Edwards pleaded guilty to the extra charges and has been sentenced to two years and eight months.
His mother, Rebekah Edwards, aged 48, of Bridgend, admitted concealing mobile phones in the garden after being charged with perverting the course of justice. She has been sentenced to two years in prison.
Detective Superintendent Tracey Rankine said: “Lewis Edwards is already serving a substantial prison sentence for his abhorrent crimes against children. We are continuing to attempt to identify his many victims from Snapchat usernames to ensure they are safeguarded and supported.
“Given the scale and severity of his offending, it is indefensible for anybody to seek to obstruct the investigation by concealing evidence which is why it was entirely appropriate to bring charges of perverting the course of justice in this case.”
Edwards was sacked as a police officer after being immediately suspended when his offending came to light.
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