Ian Watkins of Lostprophets performs at the 2012 Heineken Jammin Festival on July 6, 2012 in Milan, Italy.
After months of denying accusations of pedophilia, Welsh rock singer Ian Watkins has pleaded guilty to a series of child sex offenses, including the attempted rape of a baby.
Faced with evidence collected from computers and cell phones, Watkins made his confession in Cardiff Crown Court on Tuesday, the BBC reports. Judge Justice Royce deemed a trial redundant after hearing the attorneys’ arguments, and told the jury: “You have been saved from having to watch extremely graphic and distressing material.”
Standing next to Watkins in the Cardiff Crown Court dock were two women, who had been sexually abusing their own children and made them available for Watkins to abuse. Watkins had been planning to “teach” the children to take drugs, the hearing was told, a recurring theme in the Welshman’s encounters with adolescents.
Watkins was founder and lead singer of the band Lostprophets, which achieved two top ten hits in the U.K. Singles Chart. His sentencing will take place on Dec. 18.
[BBC]