Former Police Officer Lewis Edwards Jailed for Life for Grooming and Blackmailing Over 200 Underage Girls on Snapchat

Officer Lewis Edwards, who served in South Wales Police, used a fake teenage-boy persona to manipulate, threaten, and abuse his victims aged between 10 and 16, even while on duty; he now faces a minimum of 12 years in prison for his horrific offenses.

Lewis Edwards, a former South Wales Police officer, has been sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 12 years for committing over 160 sex abuse crimes against girls aged 10 to 16 on Snapchat.
Edwards, who joined the force in 2021 and was in service while committing most of the offences, used a false teenage-boy profile and manipulated the victims into sending him explicit images, even while on duty.
After receiving the images, Edwards blackmailed the underage girls with exposure, and went to extreme threats such as promising to bomb houses or harm their families if they did not comply.
His victims, some of whom have reported suicidal feelings and suffer from depression, were targeted and abused even while he was on police duty, with one being abused merely 17 days after she had met him in his duties.
Upon investigation, authorities found 4,500 indecent images of children on Edwards' devices, heavily encrypted alongside a blackmail manual, resulting in his immediate suspension and dismissal from the police force.
Snapchat has responded to the case stating they use technology to detect and prevent such abuse and have added additional protections for under-18s, including a new pop-up warning about being contacted by strangers.