October 9, 2017 8.57 am This story is over 77 months old

Paedophile rockstar groomed young Lincolnshire mum from his jail cell

Utterly bewildering.
Ian Watkins was jailed for 35 years in 2013

A Lincolnshire mum has had her two-year-old daughter taken away from her after she was groomed by disgraced former Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins.

The mum, 21, first met the depraved rockstar as a 16-year-old before visiting him at the Category A Wakefield Prison in West Yorkshire.

Watkins, now 40, was jailed for 35 years in 2013 for numerous sex crimes against children, including the attempted rape of a baby.

The single mum exchanged letters with Watkins before going to see him for the first time in prison in November 2016.

Watkins told the unemployed mum that he loved her and even suggested she wear an engagement ring.

On one of several visits she made to the high-security prison, Watkins asked what she would do if her daughter came into the room during sex.

Her child was taken from her care in December but she returned to see him in January to tell him what had happened.

Two months later, she again visited Watkins, this time with a ring she had bought.

A spokesman for the NSPCC children’s charity told the Sun on Sunday: “This is an absolute shambles. We’re sickened.

“It’s utterly bewildering that he could carry on grooming.

“It shows contempt for children he abused, and raises serious questions about supervision.”

A Lincolnshire Police spokesperson added: “We will always take action to safeguard vulnerable adults and children.”