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Police officials at fault for ignoring early Ian Watkins child abuse allegations

Police watchdog officials have heavily criticised Welsh authorities for failing to act on early concerns about paedophile rocker Ian Watkins’ disturbing obsession with child pornography.
The former Lostprophets singer was initially arrested for drug offences in 2012, but was subsequently jailed for 35 years in 2013 for an appalling catalogue of child sex offences, including the attempted rape of a baby.
However, investigators at the Independent Police Complaints Commission believe Watkins could have been stopped years earlier had cops taken complaints about his behaviour seriously.
In the report, released on Friday (25Aug17), South Wales Police bosses were found to have missed opportunities to “carry out even rudimentary investigation” into claims made by an ex-girlfriend and a few other witnesses between 2008 and 2012.
The news emerges years after Watkins’ ex-girlfriend, Joanne Mjadzelics, revealed she had repeatedly tried to alert authorities to his desire to abuse kids, but her attempts were dismissed as “malicious”, and cops didn’t even bother to examine a cellphone message from the rocker, which she had saved as evidence in 2009.
Watkins’ disgusted Lostprophets bandmates called it quits in 2013, just before the frontman pleaded guilty to his crimes. They subsequently formed a new group, named No Devotion.

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