Police officer who groomed young girls begged victim's dad not to report him (2024)

A paedophile police officer groomed more than 200 girls into sharing explicit photos and videos, a court has heard.

Lewis Edwards, 24, was a serving police officer when he posed as a 14-year-old boy to groom girls between the ages of 10 and 16 through social media.

He would force his victims to make indecent pictures and videos of themselves, which he’d secretly record and then blackmail them into sending more graphic content by threatening to share them online or send them to family and friends.

Edwards also sent videos of himself performing sex acts to children.

He refused to attend the first and second days of his sentencing hearing at Cardiff crown court, after previously pleading 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.

Edwards joined the police in January 2021 and the court heard he abused all but one of his victims while he was a serving police officer.

He targeted one teenager 17 days after meeting her as part of his duties, and on 30 separate occasions he was in contact with his victims during working hours.

Roger Griffiths, prosecuting, said one victim confessed to her father that she had sentEdwardsan indecent image via Snapchat and he was asking for more and threatening to share it if she did not comply.

Mr Griffiths said: ‘Her father took her phone and messaged the individual, saying “this is her Dad, stop now, what you’re doing is illegal”.

‘Their response was “Lol” – “laugh out loud”. He replied with a photograph of himself with the caption “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”.

‘From the panic in the tone he assumed he was speaking with a child. He suspended her Snapchat account and reported the episode to Snapchat.’

The girl’s parents reported the incident to the police and they received advice about online safety – but that was not the last the family heard from Edwards.

Mr Griffiths said: ‘To her new Snapchat account she received a friend request and she believed this to be a girl at her school.

‘The moment she did so she got more threats of a similar nature.

‘He said “Send me more nudes. I’ll release the photos/send them your friend”. It began escalating.

‘Her dad contacted the individual telling them to cease and from there they didn’t respond.’

In one recording played to the court,Edwardscan be heard masturbating as he encourages his 12-year-old victim to do the same.

He also told a victim that other girls had killed themselves and he did not care if she did.

The court heard some girls were so traumatised by whatEdwardsdid to them that they started self-harming, and another slept with a hammer under her pillow.

The court heardEdwardstold victims to write ‘Snapgod’ on their bodies. Snapgod is a distributor of child sexual abuse material from whomEdwardshad bought images using bitcoin.

Edwardsalso threatened to bomb the house of one of his victims and shoot her parents if she stopped sending him images, the court was told.

Several victims said their trust of the police has been shattered.

One mother said: ‘We cannot get our head around the fact that somebody who was there to protect you could do this.

‘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.

‘LewisEdwards, I want you to know that as a family we will never forgive you and we feel nothing for you but hate.’

Another mother said: ‘As parents you will do anything to protect your child and when we think about what she went through during that period, it really does break our hearts.’

During the prosecution’s opening, Mr Griffiths had to take a break having become emotional reading a statement from the mother of one ofEdwards’victims.

She said: ‘As a family we are dealing the news of my declining physical health and I am in the process of undergoing medical treatment and time is extremely precious for us.

‘The last few months are the time to be making memories and spending time with each other.

‘LewisEdwardshas taken everything from us, including precious time. I want the court to understand life is never going to be the same for us again.

‘He has destroyed the innocence of so many children and I hope they take some comfort in knowing they have had some justice.’

The hearing continues.

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