Latest Offenders Neath

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A sex offender was found hiding a boy and a girl who were from children's homes in a wardrobe in his bedroom. Just weeks after police made the shocking discovery, Jamie Roberts took two boys - again vulnerable teens living in care - back to his house where they drank alcohol and took drugs - and he suggested getting amphetamine as it "makes you really horny".

Roberts, who also goes by the name Jamie Whelan, is currently subject to a sexual harm prevention order after being convicted of child abduction.

Swansea Crown Court heard that early in the morning of December 21 last year police in Swansea were notified that two teenagers - a girl and a boy - had failed to return home to their respective care homes by the allotted curfew times the previous night. Kevin Jones, prosecuting, said the police investigation led to Roberts' flat in Skewen, and at 3.40am officers knocked on his door. The court heard the lights were on in the property but the officers' knocks went unanswered, though they noticed the blinds in a window were twitching. Officers kept knocking and eventually Roberts answered - despite being fully clothed he told his callers he had been asleep.

The house was searched and it initially appeared Roberts was alone. However, officers noticed a big pile of bedding and clothes stacked up in front of a wardrobe in one of the bedrooms. And when officers moved the items, and opened the wardrobe, they found the missing children hiding inside. The teenagers were returned to their care homes and Roberts was arrested. In his subsequent interview the 35-year-old defendant provided a prepared statement in which he said the children had asked him to hide them, and that they had taken cocaine and amphetamine. After being questioned Roberts was released under investigation.

The court heard the second incident happened on February 28 this year and involved the same teen boy along with another male youth who was also living in care. The prosecutor said on this occasion Roberts met the boys at Swansea railway station and took them back to his home in Skewen. During the evening the trio drank alcohol and the two teens smoked cannabis, and Roberts suggested getting amphetamine as it "makes you really horny". At around 4am an argument broke out and Roberts chased the boys from his flat - apparently at knife-point. One boy rang his care home and a member of staff drove to Skewen to collect him. Roberts was again arrested and admitted arranging to pick up one of the boys from the station - but said he had been surprised to find the youngster was not alone.

Jamie Paul Roberts, of New Road, Skewen, Neath, had previously pleaded guilty to breaching a sexual harm prevention order when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has 19 previous convictions for 22 offences including a number for sexual offences beginning with the indecent assault of a girl when he was a juvenile - this involved him assaulting a girl in public toilets on a beach. In 2005 he was convicted at Swansea Crown Court of breaching a sexual harm prevention order, and convicted of the same offence two years later at Stratford Crown Court. However, the court did not hear details of these breaches.

In 2021 he was sentenced to a two-year community order for child abduction - this offence involved a young boy staying in his property in defiance of a child abduction warning notice issued by police following concerns raised by the boy's dad about the nature of the defendant's relationship with his son.

Ian Ibrahim, for Roberts, said the defendant's childhood had been "nothing short of a disaster for him". He said Roberts was taken into care at the age of four and put on anti-psychotic drugs because of his behaviour, and that was followed by a period of living with 10 different foster families and in five foster homes, as well as being bullied at school. The barrister said the defendant had subsequently been diagnosed with a number of conditions including personality disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and depression. Mr Ibrahim said Roberts had been the victim of a serious assault in Cardiff's Bute Park - the same area where Dr Gary Jenkins was murdered in a homophobic attack - and had also been the victim of so-called cuckooing when a drugs-gang took over his Neath flat.

Judge Paul Thomas QC said he had no doubt Roberts' contact with the young children from care homes had been sexually-motivated grooming behaviour. He said it was clear the defendant posed a risk of serious harm to children but said it was not possible to pass an extended sentence for the offences currently before the court.

With a one-quarter discount for his guilty pleas Roberts was sentenced to three-and-a-half years for breaching the sexual harm prevention order, and the judge re-sentenced the defendant for the previous child abduction offence imposing a six month sentence for that to run consecutively, making an overall sentence of four years in prison. Roberts will serve up to half that period in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.

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A man has been sentenced to six years in custody after being found guilty of committing six sexual offences against a 12-year-old girl.

Karl Richard Walsh, 41, denied all the charges but he was convicted following a trial at Swansea Crown Court earlier this week.

The officer in charge of the case, Detective Joanne Williams of South Wales Police, has praised the 12-year-old child for the way in which she has conducted herself throughout her horrific ordeal.

“I would like to commend the bravery of the girl in this case,” she said.  “Not only has she had the courage to report what had happened to her, but she has continued to support the investigation right to the end.  As a result of this child’s bravery, Walsh will now spend years in prison to reflect on his behaviour.”

Walsh, of Burnside, Neath, will remain on the sex offenders’ register for life.

Meanwhile the number of sex offences recorded by police in Wales has reached its highest level since 2002, according to latest crime figures. 

Statistical analysis shows that 3,973 crimes were recorded against children in Wales in the 12 months to June 2019.  This figure is up from 3,920 the previous year and the highest number since records began in 2002.  The findings confirm that the figure has more than doubled in the last five years alone.

The spike may be the result of an actual rise in the number of child abuse crimes, but it may also be linked to more victims feeling able to come forward to speak about their ordeals and also a better recording process by police.

Sexual crimes which are being committed against children include rape, sexual exploitation and the grooming of children under the age of 16.

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John Paul Bullingham was described by a court as a 'committed, if unsuccessful, paedophile' A paedophile attempted to meet a fictitious young girl and made threats to someone he thought was an 11-year-old girl, a court has heard. John Paul Bullingham was caught with indecent images of children by police and he was released pending further investigation. But in the meantime Swansea Crown Court heard how Bullingham, of Bowen Street in Neath, sexually communicated online with people he thought were young girls. During the exchanges he encouraged lewd behaviour, attempted to arrange to meet another, and made threats to a third. Judge Paul Thomas QC told the defendant: "Having heard the evidence in this case you are a committed, if unsuccessful, paedophile. "You had an index of category A images of children and those images had children as young as five part of a collection accumulated over a year. "Having been caught you were released under investigation by the police but that did not stop you. "After being released under investigation you communicated sexually online with children online. One of those was who you thought was a 14-year-old girl which you encouraged to masturbate herself. "You arranged to meet in Neath who you believed was a 13-year-old girl and if she had been real I have no doubt you would have committed sexual offences in relation to her. "Possibly the most unsavoury and most dangerous aspect of what happened was concerning who you thought was an 11-year-old girl. You said to the fictitious girl that you would contact her friends and others online if she did not do what you wanted her to do. That is a particularly sinister aspect of this case." Bullingham appeared for sentencing after being found guilty by a jury following a trial of five counts of possessing indecent photographs of a child, one count of possessing indecent images of a child, five counts of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, and a further count of attempting to cause or incite a child to engage in sexual activity. Paul Hobson, mitigating, said: "At the age of 32 this is his first significant experience of custody. He has a relatively limited antecedent history. This is a defendant with a mild intellectual disability." Sentencing Bullingham, Judge Thomas said: "I believe you pose a high risk of causing serious harm to others in future." He handed Bullingham an eight-year sentenced comprising five and a half years in prison and the remainder on extended licence. He has also been given an indefinite sexual harm prevention order and an indefinite notification requirement.