Lostprophets Ian Watkins Pleads Guilty To Child Abuse: 'If You Belong To Me, So Does Your Baby,' Singer Reportedly Said To Fan
Lostphrophets lead singer Ian Watkins pleaded guilty Tuesday to at least 13 child sexual assault offenses, which included two counts of attempting to rape a baby. The Welsh singer, 36, denied that he raped the 11-month-old baby, but admitted to the two counts of attempted rape.
Watkins additionally admitted to sexually assaulting at least one child who was under the age of 13, aiding and abetting an unnamed female co-defendant to sexually assault a child under age 13, and he also said he conspired to rape a child under the age of 13, according to Wales Online.
The musician was labeled a pedophile by a judge at the Cardiff Crown court in Wales during the hearing, and Wales Online referred to him as the “rockstar pedophile.”
Detective Chief Inspector Peter Doyle, South Wales Police's senior investigating officer in the case, told the court on Tuesday Watkins had "exploited his celebrity status in order to abuse young children.” Two of the female co-defendants admitted to sexually abusing their own children “at the behest of Ian Watkins.”
"Ian Watkins clearly had a dangerous obsession with the most severe and extreme forms of child sex abuse,” NSPCC Wales national head of service Des Mannion said. “His global public profile provided him with access to impressionable young women who he was able to manipulate to feed his horrific desires. The length of his sentence should reflect this terrible abuse of power."
According to The Stir, a female fan said Watkins told her: "If you belong to me, so does your baby."
The UK’s Daily Star added all three defendants face a total of 32 charges. Watkins reportedly filmed himself during the rape of a very young child in a hotel room in London in April 2012. The assumed mother of the child, and another unnamed woman, admitted to sex abuse charges against children.
Watkins and the two female defedants are scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 18, Wales Online reported.
The Lostphrophets formed in 1997 and sold more than 3.5 million records before they announced their split in October in wake of the shocking allegations against Watkins. "After nearly a year of coming to terms with our heartache, we finally feel ready to announce publicly what we have thought privately for some time," the band said in a statement on their Facebook page. "We can no longer continue making or performing music as Lostprophets. Your love and support over the past 15 years has been tremendous, and we'll be forever grateful for all you've given us."
The rock band’s lead guitarist Lee Gaze took to Twitter after Watkins' court hearing on Tuesday, where he expressed some relief that the proceedings against his former bandmate had completed. "That was over quick. Thank f*ck,” he tweeted. “Thanks for the kind words. At least there is closure now.” The rest of the Lostprophets have remained silent through the police investigation, however.
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