GAVIN EVANS FROM GLANAMMAN SENTENCED FOR CHILD SEX OFFENCES IN SWANSEA

In a disturbing case that has shocked the community of Glanamman and the wider Swansea area, Gavin Oliver Evans was sentenced to four years in prison after being found guilty of a series of heinous crimes involving child sexual abuse and exploitation. The court heard that Evans, a 41-year-old man residing on Cwmamman Road in Glanamman, engaged in a prolonged campaign of online grooming, manipulation, and distribution of indecent images of children.

According to evidence presented at Swansea Crown Court, police executed a search warrant at Evans' residence on January 24, 2017. The authorities had acted on intelligence indicating that someone calling himself “Gav” at the address was involved in downloading and sharing indecent images of children. Although Evans was not at home during the initial raid, he was located at a nearby Tesco store where he was working at the time. Officers seized his iPhone, which later revealed the full extent of his criminal activities.

Investigations uncovered that Evans had been engaging in manipulative and highly sexualized conversations with young girls as young as 11 years old via the messaging platform Kik for over six months. During these exchanges, he groomed the victims, persuading them to send him explicit photographs and videos of themselves performing sexual acts. One particularly disturbing case involved a 15-year-old girl whom Evans convinced to send intimate videos. He also attempted to coerce her into acting out incestuous fantasies, referring to himself as “daddy” and “daddy bear.”

Further, Evans exploited a vulnerable 14-year-old girl by persuading her to send an explicit video, which he then shared with at least a dozen other paedophiles. When their relationship soured, Evans reportedly spitefully disclosed to the girl that he had shared her video, and he became verbally abusive, even threatening to hold a “party” if she took her own life as a consequence of his actions. Another victim, a 15-year-old girl, had scars from previous self-harm visible in her photographs, which Evans had manipulated her into sending.

The police investigation also uncovered extensive online communications between Evans and other individuals with similar predatory interests. Evidence included a link to a Dropbox account containing over 600 images and videos of child abuse, which Evans had shared with a fellow paedophile. His phone contained 39 indecent images of children, including six classified as Category A, depicting the most severe forms of abuse. Among these was a photograph of a four-year-old girl and a disturbing image of a woman engaging in sexual activity with a horse.

In police interviews, Evans admitted to using an iCloud account to trade images with other offenders. The prosecution, led by Dean Pulling, detailed how Evans had not only possessed and downloaded these images but also actively distributed them, incited children to engage in sexual acts, and possessed extreme pornography.

Evans pleaded guilty to 11 counts, including possession, distribution, and incitement related to indecent images, as well as possessing extreme pornography. The court was told that Evans had gained the trust of his young victims online before exploiting that trust for his own depraved purposes.

Recorder Christopher Clee QC sentenced Evans to four years in prison, emphasizing the gravity of his crimes and the betrayal of trust involved. Additionally, Evans was ordered to be subject to a sexual harm prevention order and will be registered as a sex offender for life, ensuring ongoing monitoring and restrictions to protect the community from further harm.