Former Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins has been sentenced to 35 years for a string of child sex offences which “plumbed new depths of depravity”. Watkins shook in the dock as he was jailed and told that he would serve 29 years in jail with the final six on licence.
His two accomplices, Woman A and Woman B, were jailed for 14 years and 16 years respectively.
The judge said the levels of his sex abuse “broke new ground” in British courts.
He bore a blank expression as he was led to the cells amid cries of “yes” from the public gallery.
Justice Royce told Watkins: “Those who have appeared in these courts over many years see a large number of horrific cases. This case, however, breaks new ground.
“You, Watkins, achieved fame and success as the lead singer of Lostprophets.
“You had many fawning fans. That gave you power. You knew you could use that power to induce young female fans to have help satisify your insatiable lust and take part in the sexual abuse of their own children.
“Away from the highlights of your public performances lay a dark and sinister side.”
The disgraced rock star even spoke with a female fan from prison the day after admitting two counts of attempted baby rape and said he was going to issue a statement saying it had all been “mega lolz”.
Watkins confessed to 13 offences at Cardiff Crown Court - where he was described as a committed and determined paedophile.
Trial judge Justice Royce told him and his co-defendants that what they had done “plumbed new depths of depravity”.
Watkin’s sexually touched a groupie’s 11-month-old baby. He also encouraged a second fan to abuse her child during a webcam chat and secretly stashed child porn videos, some of which he had made himself.
And it is feared the incidents could be just the tip of the iceberg. Police are investigating whether Watkins, 36, committed further abuse in the US and Germany.
The extent of his sex offences was laid bare today.
Watkins hid his stash of images on computer equipment with a storage capacity five times the size of that used by the South Wales Police force, with 2,862 sworn officers and 1,631 support staff, according to detectives.
The singer claimed that he had no memory of his crimes due to substance abuse. But the scale of the police find suggested an organised and lucid mind at work.
DCI Doyle said: “His computer equipment contained 27 terabytes of storage space, which is five times the size of the South Wales Police’s storage.”
Referring to paedophilia, he added: “If you need 27 terabytes you are into that kind of world.”
He said that inquiries also found that Watkins had a lot of “off site” storage space in cloud-based facilities.
One terabyte represents one trillion bytes. The prefix “tera” is derived from the Greek word for monster.
On average one terabyte drive is capable of holding 472 hours of broadcast quality video or 150 hours of hi-definition recording.
Intelligence experts from GCHQ cracked locks on paedophile Ian Watkins’ laptop to reveal his sordid perversions.
The disgraced Lostprophets singer used a twisted reference to his own sick sexual fantasies as his password on the computer, on which experts found encrypted files hiding his secrets.
Investigators have now said other child sex offenders that any computer password can be cracked, warning them that they have nowhere to hide.
DCI Peter Doyle, who led the investigation, warned that any abusers linked to 36-year-old Watkins would be pursued “relentlessly” until they are caught.
“It would be true to say that we have used high-level experts to assist us when it was needed,” he said.
“The bottom line is that if we need someone to crack a password for us then people, at a high level, have said ‘Yes, we will help you’.”
He added: “There is a message there to people. That message is: you can encrypt away as much as you like. But do not think you are safe.
“There are people who will find a way into the device and you will be brought to book.”