Ex-BBC producer with 'depraved' images of children avoids prison
BBCWarning: This article contains distressing detail
A former BBC Wales producer who viewed "depraved" images of young children being raped has been given an 18-month suspended sentence at Newport Crown Court.
Dylan Dawes, 50, viewed "unspeakable acts" of child abuse and had thousands of indecent images of children, including 192 Category A images, depicting the worst kind of abuse.
More than 6,200 images were recovered from devices owned by Dawes, who was previously found guilty of six counts at Cardiff Crown Court.
During his sentencing, judge Eugene Egan said children had been "horrifically abused for the delectation" of Dawes.
Dawes began working at the BBC in 2001 as a researcher and went on to produce radio programmes, podcasts and worked on the website.
He was arrested in February 2022 on suspicion of possessing or making indecent images of children.
During his trial, the former radio producer claimed he had "no knowledge" of the images and said the devices had been "left for extended periods" at his workplace in BBC Wales.
But the judge said Dawes had viewed "unspeakable acts" involving children.
He also said there was a "market for this depraved material" because "warped people" like Dawes were interested in viewing "such appalling content".
'Pushed colleagues under the bus'
During his trial, Dawes claimed he had taken his laptop, iPads and hard drive to work at BBC Wales where colleagues had used his devices.
He claimed storerooms at BBC Wales were "littered with other people's hard drives", and said he had "never knowingly viewed" indecent images of children.
Dawes also said he was the victim of "someone else looking at pornography" on his devices.
But Judge Egan said the defendant had "pushed" his former BBC Wales colleagues "under the bus" and blamed "everyone and anyone" who had access to the open-plan office.
He said Dawes's conviction removed any "lingering suspicion" from his former colleagues.
A man who has 'lost everything'
During the trial, prosecutor Harry Baker said it could not have been coincidence that four separate devices belonging to Dawes contained indecent images of children.
He told the court Dawes had been downloading indecent images of children for about 16 years.
Jurors heard 5,794 images were recovered from a hard drive, including 185 Category A images - the most serious images.
A further 483 images were found on four devices, including seven Category A images.
The prosecution said searches on Google for the word "jailbait" evidenced an interest in young girls.
Judge Egan told Dawes it was "a clear sign of what you were hoping to find online".
The court heard all of the images were found in the "Dylan Account" on his computer.
A Gmail account belonging to Dawes had been suspended about three or four weeks before his arrest on 28 February 2022.
Dawes was found guilty of six counts of possessing or making indecent images of children.
Andrew Taylor, defending, said Dawes "is a man who has lost everything" and that he had begun to "come to terms with his offending".
Dawes was sentenced to 18 months in prison suspended for two years.
He was also ordered to carry out a 30-day rehabilitation activity and will have to sign the sexual offenders register for ten years.
BBC Wales has declined to comment.
