A British pedophile police officer who used threats and blackmail to force minors to send explicit photos of themselves to him on Snapchat has been sentenced to life in jail. Lewis Edwards, 24, an officer with South Wales Police, pleaded guilty to 160 offenses after authorities found he possessed 4,500 indecent images of children. Authorities said he messaged 210 girls as young as 10 years old between late 2020 and early 2023, and images of 207 of them were discovered on his devices. Edwards, who joined the police force in Jan. 2021, will now serve a minimum of 12 years in prison. “The crimes committed by Lewis Edwards are despicable and the public will be as shocked and sickened as we are that such appalling [offenses] were committed by a serving police officer,” South Wales Police Assistant Chief Constable Danny Richards said in a statement.
