Advertisement

Paedophile was allowed to prey on vulnerable girls for a YEAR after he was arrested

Matthew Thomas
Matthew Thomas was able to prey on vulnerable victims for a year after he was arrested

Police have been ordered to explain how an online sexual predator was allowed to carry on preying on vulnerable victims for a year after he was arrested.

Matthew Thomas, 21, was first brought to the attention of police in December 2017 after preying on young girls online.

But despite being arrested and questioned in January 2018, he was released under investigation and continued hunting for victims, Wales Online reported.

A judge has now demanded an explanation from police, saying the way the case was handled amounted to a “dereliction of public duty”, the newspaper reported.

A general view of Swansea Crown Court in Swansea, south Wales.
A judge at Swansea Crown Court has ordered police to provide an explanation

Swansea Crown Court heard that Thomas, of Nightingale Court, Llanelli, preyed on vulnerable young teenage girls on social media platforms before grooming and emotionally blackmailing them.

Prosecutors said Thomas chatted online to a young girl in the north-east of England, asking her for pictures and threatening to hurt himself if she didn’t send them.

Officers from Cleveland Police passed information to Dyfed-Powys Police and Thomas was arrested and question in January 2018, admitting elements of his behaviour.

But he was released under investigation and resumed offending, contacting more girls online over the following months and telling one 13-year-old he would “rape her dead”.

READ MORE

Teen who threw cheese at severely allergic schoolboy says: ‘I didn’t mean to kill him’

He was reportedly arrested again in August 2018 after a paedophile hunter group reported him to police but was again released.

In November 2018 Thomas was handed a court order by magistrates because of concerns about his behaviour but was not charged and again continued offending.

He was charged in January 2019 and has now pleaded guilty to multiple counts of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, causing a child to watch a sexual act, possession and distribution of indecent images, and possession of extreme pornography.

Sentencing Thomas to a 10-year extended sentence, Judge Paul Thomas QC ordered Dyfed Powys police to provide a report on how the situation had come about.

---Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UK---