JAMES OWEN, TEENAGE OFFENDER FROM WREXHAM, SENTENCED FOR CHILD SEX ABUSE IMAGES IN JULY 2017

In July 2017, a court sentenced 18-year-old James Owen, a teenage council worker from Wrexham, to 10 months in youth detention after he was found to possess extreme child sex abuse videos. The case came to light more than 18 months after police were aware of his activities but had not taken action.

At Mold Crown Court, it was revealed that Owen had illegal images depicting children aged three, five, and nine. The police discovered these during a raid on his home at Ffordd Gwenllian, Llay. Owen was identified after authorities received intelligence that he had uploaded an indecent image of a child onto Facebook via a false account.

Prosecutor William Hingston stated, “Police raided Owen-Davies’ home in April and seized computers. The Facebook account had been created in August of the previous year, with seven different folders containing the material.”

The court detailed that there were a total of 250 videos and 35 images categorized as grade A, 130 videos and 72 images as grade B, and 77 videos with 18 images classified as grade C. Authorities also found one prohibited image and eight extreme images involving bestiality.

Owen-Davies pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images, two of possession, and one of possessing extreme images, with offenses spanning from August of the previous year to April of this year.

Judge Niclas Parry commented on the severity of the case, highlighting that Owen had admitted to serious sexual offending over a lengthy period. He said, “You were making images of the most dreadful sexual abuse of children. The most aggravating features are the length of the offending and the significant number of images and movies. Some of the children were very young — aged three, five, and nine. Search terms showed you were actively seeking out such material.”

Additionally, Owen-Davies was ordered to register as a sex offender for 10 years and was subject to a sexual harm prevention order.