Man jailed for sexually assaulting young boy in Wrexham

Caernarfon Crown Court heard on Monday morning how HMP Berwyn inmate Robert Adam Williams, 37, isolated the vulnerable child in Wrexham between 2003 and 2004 before assaulting him twice.

At the sentencing hearing, during most of which Williams sat with his head in his hands, Paulinus Barnes, prosecuting, told the court the defendant was also up for sentence in relation to a massive collection of indecent images found by police in more recent years.

In an impact statement read to the court, the victim of the sexual assault said the incidents completely changed his life.

After his school life was affected, he went on to take drugs, became involved in a criminal lifestyle and ended up in custody on numerous occasions.

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To this day, he suffers flashbacks and nightmares, the court heard, and is struck with "unbearable depression" whenever the full event returns to his memory.

The indecent image offences came to light in January 2020 when the Met Police were alerted to a conversation online that involved a sexual interest in children.

When officers in North Wales carried out a search warrant at the address linked to the user - later confirmed to be Williams - they seized the defendant's devices.

A large collection of indecent images was found - more than 75,000 in all.

Mr Barnes said there were more images than could be categorised by the police, but those which were categorised (just over 1,000) showed 356 at category A, 182 at category B and 612 at category C.

Also found were 21 prohibited images of children, and one of extreme pornography.

The children depicted in the images were boys and girls, from new born babies up to youths of around 13.

Robert Adam Williams (Image: North Wales Police)

Judge Nicola Saffman said the content described in the schedule of some of the example images was "amongst the most depraved."

Mr Barnes told the court that the most commonly used search terms on the devices were "baby boys, rape and child torture."

But he didn't just possess the indecent images - one of the offences he fell to be sentenced for was producing indecent images.

Mr Barnes told the court this offence involved the defendant photographing a baby surreptitiously, then distributing some of the indecent images.

Judge Saffman said the defendant had inveigled his way into a home and taken the photos before "distributing them around other paedophiles" online.

Jade Tufail, defending, said her client has "another side" and that he'd suffered with "significant health difficulties" - both mental and physical.

She said he'd abused drugs and alcohol throughout his life, but had also made "constructive" developments.

"At the time of his remand," Ms Tufail said, "he was in the second year of a four year architecture degree at Glyndwr."

That line of work had been " a dream of his" before he went down the path of criminality, she said, adding: "There are the first green shoots of someone who is trying to change his past."

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Speaking of the sexual assault, Judge Saffman told Williams: "You specified, chose and sought out that child because of the vulnerability.

"There has been a significant impact on him during his whole life and there is a degree of psychological damage.

"So far as the indecent images are concerned, the guidelines do not reflect the criminality and depravity of your actions."

The Judge said as such, she was going "out of the range," after listing the aggravating features in the case and branded him a risk to the community - in particular to children

Because of this, the Judge opted to impose an extended sentence.

Williams received a total of ten years in custody across all of the offences, with an addition five years on licence.

He will be subject to a sexual harm prevention order and notification requirements indefinitely.

All of the devices seized from him are to be destroyed.

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