Female fans warned for nearly four years that Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins was obsessed with child porn... so why didn't the police act sooner?

• Ian Watkins, 36, admitted his guilt after last minute plea-change today
• Star says he couldn't recall 'depraved acts' because he took crystal meth
• Singer admitted he attempted to rape a 11-month-old child in April last year
• The boy's mother - Woman A - pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting attack
• Another mother - Woman B - allowed singer to plot raping her daughter
• GCHQ 'cracked' his laptop and found password was reference to child sex
  
• Watkins remanded in custody and all three will be sentenced in December
  

By MARTIN ROBINSON and PAUL BENTLEY

PUBLISHED: 14:31 GMT, 26 November 2013 | UPDATED: 00:28 GMT, 27 November 2013

The police faced serious questions last night over why they failed to act sooner to stop Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins after it emerged fans had warned for nearly four years that he was obsessed with child porn.

From early 2010 horrified fans who had become friends with Watkins went online to beg for help after discovering vile images on his computer.

Friends claim they called police to tell them the 36-year-old was a paedophile but officers did nothing, allowing him to go on to subject babies to the most horrific abuse.

A disturbing child porn profile created in that time by Watkins was viewed by more than 40,000 people on the internet and yet appears never to have been monitored by authorities.

In one post, written before his arrest, a fan wrote: ‘His on-off girlfriend reported him to police twice for being a paedophile.

‘He sent pornographic pictures of a little girl to a few girls telling them it was a five-year-old girl he’d raped. He also watches child porn constantly. Sick sick man.’ 

Watkins allegedly boasted to obsessed female fans that he had HIV and was on a mission to pass it on to children. 

One fan added: ‘A girl found info on his computer on how to drug children. He told her he was thinking of giving kids drugs. He does need to be arrested before he infects anyone else

Watkins was only stopped late last year after South Wales Police raided his home on a drugs tip and stumbled upon his hard drives containing images, videos and conversations about him attacking children.

Yesterday police said he had taken vile pictures of children for as long as five years and may have many other victims across the world.

In August 2010 one fan wrote online that he had been grooming underage girls online. 

Five months later, Watkins created a vile online profile, uploading 27 images of himself involved in depraved sex acts. The images were viewed more than 43,000 times.

He had also openly subscribed to groups on the site which contained images of child abuse.

Last night South Wales Police did not respond to questions about why they did not act sooner. 

They vowed, however, to keep investigating in case there are more victims.

Watkins was described as a 'determined and committed paedophile' after he admitted attempting to rape a fan's 11-month-old baby son along with 10 other child sex offences.

He changed his plea at the start of his trial but claimed he could not remember the 'depraved' abuse because he was high on crystal meth.

The singer - a former boyfriend of BBC radio and television presenter Fearne Cotton - pleaded guilty to sex offences involving the babies of two women fans, who helped with the abuse.

As Watkins faces a lengthy jail term:

• His distraught family described how online porn turned a ‘happy normal lad from the Valleys’ into a paedophile who ‘will be remembered like Jimmy Savile’.
• Shocking online profiles showed how the singer did not even try to hide his depravity, for years openly subscribing to child porn sites.
• Officers said there may be many more victims across the world.

He pleaded guilty to attempting to rape the 11-month-old baby of a fan 'Woman A' and conspiring to rape the baby daughter of another fan 'Woman B'.

The two fans, both in their twenties and from different parts of England, are also facing jail after admitting their role in the sex offences on their own children.

Cardiff Crown Court heard Watkins was videoed committing the depraved acts and was 'clearly identifiable' because of his many tattoos and his voice.

But Watkins claimed not to remember doing it because he was a 'heavy user' of class A drugs including Crystal Meth at the time.

Watkins spoke only to enter his pleas as he admitted attempting to rape the baby.

The singer, dressed in a three-piece dark blue suit, also admitted sexually assaulting the baby by touching him.

A laptop seized from Watkins's home was password protected and was later sent to GCHQ to have it 'cracked.'

Experts found the password was an obscene reference to child abuse and contained a cache of extreme pornography.

After the star finally admitted what he had done, Prosecuting QC Chris Clee gave details of his sickening crimes.

He said: 'Ian Watkins was the lead singer of a successful band called the Lostprophets.

'He was also a determined and committed paedophile engaged in serious sex offences involving of two babies.'

Mr Clee read aloud to the court a series of text and internet messages between Watkins and two female co-defendants.

Watkins and Woman A swapped messages where the frontman spoke of his desire to 'make him mine' and to 'cross the line'.

They also spoke of plans to blow crystal-meth smoke into the child's face at a secret meet up in a Cardiff hotel.

And on March 23, Watkins sent the woman a message saying he wanted a 'summer of filthy child porn' and how he wanted to take things 'to the next level'.

Mr Clee also gave details of a sickening 17-minute video involving Watkins and Woman A.

Mr Clee said camcorder footage was shot in a London hotel room which showed Watkins perform a sex act on the child.

Computer analysts found the footage uploaded to an online cloud storage facility.

Mr Clee said that following this meeting, the pair exchanged emails about how they would not go 'easy' on the child next time.

The prosecutor told the judge that both of his attempted rape admissions were accepted, despite Watkins facing rape charges.

He acknowledged that there was an argument regarding what key video evidence seized from Watkins's laptop actually showed.

'From the footage, there is an argument as to whether the full offence is made out,' he told judge Mr Justice Royce.

'If it is made out, it is minimal. There is so little difference between the full attempt and the attempt as to make no difference.

'We are prepared to accept the pleas as tendered.'

He also told the judge that the prosecution had in mind the effect on the jury of watching the explicit video footage - at previous hearings discussed arranging counselling for jurors who might need it.

FULL STORY: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2513820/Ian-Watkins-Lostpro...