Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins pleads GUILTY to attempted abuse of fan's baby and 10 other offences
Rock singer Ian Watkins was today described as a 'determined and committed pedophile' after he admitted attempting to abuse a fan's 11-month-old baby son along with 10 other child offences.
Watkins, 36, lead singer of the Lostprophets, changed his plea at the start of his trial this afternoon, 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 offences involving the babies of two women fans.
He pleaded guilty to attempting to abuse the 11-month-old baby of a fan 'Woman A' and conspiring to abuse 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 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 abuse the baby.
The singer, dressed in a three-piece dark blue suit, also admitted assaulting the baby by touching him.
He was filmed committing the acts on the baby the day after Lostprophets final album Weapons was released.
Watkins appeared on BBC Radio 1 just hours before the incident in April last year.
The baby's mum, Woman A, admits aiding and abetting the attempted abuse on her son.
She also admits touching the child and taking photographs, before sending them to Watkins.
Watkins also admitted conspiring to abuse and touch the daughter of the second fan.
He admits aiding and abetting Woman B to touch her daughter while he watched on Skype.
An earlier court hearing was told police had 72 pages of conversations between the pair online talking about their sexual relationship.
Woman B mentioned she had a daughter of a young age and Watkins said: 'Bring her along as well.'
She said she was getting the child ready for their meeting together - and 'what they all will do together' when they meet up.
The prosecution said the investigation led police to discover Woman B and Watkins had met once in a hotel in Cardiff.
She admits assault after touching the child, she also admits taking an indecent photograph of the child before distributing them.
Watkins also admitted three counts of possessing indecent photographs of children when he appeared at Cardiff Crown Court.
Some of the content was found on internet storage websites CrashPlan and iCloud which Watkins used to keep his data while touring around the world.
Watkins is also accused of taking indecent photographs of a child dating back to 2007 - 10 months after Lostprophets released the biggest selling song Rooftops.
The song got to number 8 in the UK charts - making it their most successful single alongside 2004's Last Train Home.
Watkins, of Pontypridd, South Wales, also admits taking indecent photographs in 2008.
The singer, who has sold more than 3.5 million albums with the Lostprophets, had denied all allegations and claimed he was a victim of a 'conspiracy to frame him'.
But Watkins, who waved at a group of young people in the public gallery, changed his plea on the day his trial was due to start.
Sally O'Neill QC, defending, said: 'His position is still the same and he says he cannot remember the events depicted in the videos.'
Watkins argue that it was possible the videos may have been electronically altered. But he dropped his defence after legal argument.
Miss O'Neill said: 'He has had expert advice from computer experts and because of this he is now in a position to change his plea.'
Watkins, 36, lead singer of the Lostprophets, changed his plea at the start of his trial this afternoon, 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 offences involving the babies of two women fans.
He pleaded guilty to attempting to abuse the 11-month-old baby of a fan 'Woman A' and conspiring to abuse 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 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 abuse the baby.
The singer, dressed in a three-piece dark blue suit, also admitted assaulting the baby by touching him.
He was filmed committing the acts on the baby the day after Lostprophets final album Weapons was released.
Watkins appeared on BBC Radio 1 just hours before the incident in April last year.
The baby's mum, Woman A, admits aiding and abetting the attempted abuse on her son.
She also admits touching the child and taking photographs, before sending them to Watkins.
Watkins also admitted conspiring to abuse and touch the daughter of the second fan.
He admits aiding and abetting Woman B to touch her daughter while he watched on Skype.
An earlier court hearing was told police had 72 pages of conversations between the pair online talking about their sexual relationship.
Woman B mentioned she had a daughter of a young age and Watkins said: 'Bring her along as well.'
She said she was getting the child ready for their meeting together - and 'what they all will do together' when they meet up.
The prosecution said the investigation led police to discover Woman B and Watkins had met once in a hotel in Cardiff.
She admits assault after touching the child, she also admits taking an indecent photograph of the child before distributing them.
Watkins also admitted three counts of possessing indecent photographs of children when he appeared at Cardiff Crown Court.
Some of the content was found on internet storage websites CrashPlan and iCloud which Watkins used to keep his data while touring around the world.
Watkins is also accused of taking indecent photographs of a child dating back to 2007 - 10 months after Lostprophets released the biggest selling song Rooftops.
The song got to number 8 in the UK charts - making it their most successful single alongside 2004's Last Train Home.
Watkins, of Pontypridd, South Wales, also admits taking indecent photographs in 2008.
The singer, who has sold more than 3.5 million albums with the Lostprophets, had denied all allegations and claimed he was a victim of a 'conspiracy to frame him'.
But Watkins, who waved at a group of young people in the public gallery, changed his plea on the day his trial was due to start.
Sally O'Neill QC, defending, said: 'His position is still the same and he says he cannot remember the events depicted in the videos.'
Watkins argue that it was possible the videos may have been electronically altered. But he dropped his defence after legal argument.
Miss O'Neill said: 'He has had expert advice from computer experts and because of this he is now in a position to change his plea.'
Source : Mirror , DailyMail
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