PC Lewis Edwards used Snapchat to groom girls for sexual images

A police officer groomed more than 200 girls online and blackmailed them into carrying out sexual acts.

Lewis Edwards, 24, used fake accounts to make contact with girls aged between 10 and 16.

He refused to appear for sentencing at Cardiff Crown Court on Monday.

The court previously heard he was caught with more than 4,500 indecent images of children - more than 700 of which were in the most serious category.

Following a misconduct hearing held earlier this year, Mr Edwards was placed on the barred list to prevent him from returning to policing.

Prosecutor Roger Griffiths told the court Edwards, from Cefn Glas, Bridgend, was in contact with 210 girls in total, with images of 207 of them recovered from his multiple devices.

The offences spanned 160 charges, to which he pleaded guilty.

Warning: Article contains descriptions of child sexual abuse

Edwards joined South Wales Police as a police constable in January 2021, and all but one of the girls were contacted by him after this time.

The offences took place between November 2020 and February 2023, when he was arrested at his home.

Edwards used a profile picture of a teenage boy to trick his victims into sending explicit images, with one saying that during video calls Edwards would sit in the dark showing only part of his face.

A victim who was aged 13 and 14 at the time of the offences was instructed by Edwards - using an account depicting an "attractive 14-year-old boy" - to take nude pictures, sometimes wearing only her school blazer, and to commit sexual acts.

Mr Griffiths said she confided in him that she wanted to kill herself and pleaded with him to leave her alone, writing in a Snapchat message: "I can't carry on having to wake up, knowing you have that on me. I am fully tipping over the edge."

In a video played in court, the girl was audibly distressed and could be heard saying "do I have to?", and "I feel forced".

Edwards told one 12-year-old victim who tried to ignore his requests for pictures that he could "come to her house and shoot her parents", Mr Griffiths said.

She sent him an image of herself in her underwear after receiving an image from Edwards that showed the location of her mother's home on Google Maps.

The court heard Edwards had installed a "legitimate application" which allowed him to record images sent to him by the girls on Snapchat, without their knowledge.

He would threaten to share the images he already had on social media if they did not comply with his requests for more, Mr Griffiths said.

In a victim statement, a girl said: "I was only a little girl. I was threatened and controlled for a year and I feel confused, embarrassed, disgusted and I have no self esteem.

"I lost my innocence. I felt guilty, and I still struggle to trust people."

One victim, who was 12 years old, was added on Snapchat by Edwards, using a different account. He had 20 mutual friends with the girl, so she assumed she knew him.

"He said she was really pretty, complimented her a lot," said Mr Griffiths.

They would talk about sport, and Edwards told the girl he had mental health issues.

After about two weeks, he started asking her for photos of her breasts and genitalia.

He would also send her pictures of his penis, when she had not asked for them.

Mr Griffiths said Edwards told the girl she was the only good thing in his life and that he would harm himself if she did not send them.

"He was getting mad and aggressive and would guilt trip her," he said.

The mother of the 12-year-old girl said in a statement that her daughter had suffered with anxiety and self harm following the abuse, and particularly struggled to come to terms with the fact that Edwards did not have genuine feelings for her.

"We just feel helpless as parents. We couldn't keep her safe in our own home," she said.

"She is not the same child anymore."

Another victim, 13 at the time, sent more than 100 images, mostly fully nude to Edwards, Mr Griffiths said.

These included a video of her performing a sex act.

Mr Griffiths said he made her send about 50 videos in one day "doing the same thing over and over".

In a statement read out in court, the girl said: "You are supposed to be able to trust the police, [but] the police did this to me."

The sentencing, which is expected to last three days, continues.

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