In 2018, the Offender Database reported that Dewi Thomas, then 64, of Heol y Banc, Bancffosfelen, Pontyberem, was sentenced to eight years in prison at Swansea Crown Court. Thomas, a former mental health nurse, was found to have subjected two young girls, both under the age of 13, to a prolonged campaign of sexual abuse. The court heard that he had used small financial payments, which he termed “rewards,” to coerce the children into performing sexual acts.
The investigation into Thomas began after one of the victims showed her mother a £2.50 payment Thomas had given her for “playing” with his genitals. During the police investigation, officers seized a tablet from Thomas’s Carmarthenshire home, which revealed he had an addiction to pornography and had been viewing adult content. Although he initially denied the allegations in police interviews, Thomas eventually pleaded guilty to four counts of causing a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity on the day his trial was set to begin.
The court heard harrowing victim impact statements detailing how the abuse had devastated the girls’ families. One of the victims began suffering from severe tantrums and nightmares, living in constant fear that Thomas would return to take her away. Prosecutor Ian Wright noted that Thomas’s actions had a “devastating effect” on the psychological well-being of the survivors, who were forced to attend court prepared to testify before his last-minute guilty plea.
Sentencing Thomas, Judge Patrick Curran QC highlighted a pre-sentence report which concluded that Thomas was in denial about his attraction to children. The judge warned that Thomas posed a “serious risk of harm to children” and emphasised the necessity of specialist sex offender treatment. He noted that Thomas’s background as a mental health nurse made the breach of trust particularly egregious.
Dewi Thomas was sentenced to eight years in prison. He was also made subject to a life-long Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) and placed on the Sex Offenders Register for life. Under the terms of his sentence, he was required to serve at least half of his term in custody before being eligible for release on licence, during which he remains under the strict supervision of the Probation Service and the Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) in South Wales.
If you or anyone you know has been affected by the individuals highlighted on this website, please report them to the Police on 101 (999 in an emergency) or visit their online resources for further details on reporting a crime. You can also report to Crimestoppers if you wish to remain completely anonymous. There is help available on our support links page.