Ex-police officer Lewis Edwards 'begged' victim's dad not to report him to authorities

The court heard that many of the offences occurred while Edwards was a serving police officer with South Wales Police. Credit: PA

A police officer who blackmailed teenage girls into performing sex acts on themselves begged the father of one of his victims not to report him to the authorities, a court has heard.

Lewis Edwards, of Bridgend, incited more than 200 girls to share explicit images and videos of themselves with him via Snapchat.

Cardiff Crown Court heard that, during a three-year period, Edwards forced his victims to make indecent videos and images of themselves, which he secretly recorded.

The 24-year-old, again refused to attend court for the second day of his sentencing hearing.

The ex-police officer has refused to attend his sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court, which is due to last three days. Credit: PA

Lewis Edwards posed as a 14-year-old boy to groom 210 girls aged between 10 and 16 on social media.

He then used the recordings to blackmail his victims into sending increasingly graphic content - threatening to share the images online and tell their family and friends.

The court heard that many of the offences occurred while Edwards was a police officer.

On the second day of the sentence hearing, Roger Griffiths, prosecuting, said one victim told her father that she had sent Edwards an indecent image via Snapchat and he was asking for more and threatening to share it if she did not comply.

Lewis Edwards joined South Wales Police force in January 2021 and resigned during criminal proceedings. Credit: ITV Wales

"Her father took her phone and messaged the individual, saying 'This is her Dad stop now what you're doing is illegal'," Mr Griffiths said.

"Their response was 'Lol' - 'laugh out loud'. He replied with a photograph of himself with the caption 'Just in case you think I'm joking I'm her Dad, stop now'.

"From there he sensed the individual seemed to panic. They begged 'Please don't say anything I won't share then. I won't do anything'.

"From the panic in the tone he assumed he was speaking with a child. He suspended her Snapchat account and reported the episode to Snapchat."

Mr Griffiths said the girl's parents reported the incident to the police and they received advice about online safety.

Many of Edwards' victims were groomed on the social media app Snapchat. Credit: PA

But that was not the last the family heard from Edwards, the court was told. "To her new Snapchat account she received a friend request and she believed this to be a girl at her school.

"The moment she did so she got more threats of a similar nature," Mr Griffiths said.

"He said 'Send me more nudes. I'll release the photos/send them your friend'. It began escalating.

"Her dad contacted the individual telling them to cease and from there they didn't respond."

The court heard that some girls were so traumatised by what Edwards did to them that they started self-harming, and another slept with a hammer under her pillow.

Edwards also threatened to bomb the house of one of his victims and shoot her parents if she stopped sending him images, the court was told. Several victims said their trust of the police has been shattered.

Edwards, who joined the force in January 2021 and has since resigned, previously pleaded guilty to 161 offences, including blackmail, inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, making a child watch a sex act, demanding indecent images of children, and making indecent images of children.

The hearing continues.