Caerphilly paedophile jailed for filming child abuse

A young man from Caerphilly who filmed a sexual video of a child and possessed hundreds of images showing youngsters being raped has been jailed after claiming his vile crimes were down to “thrill-seeking”.

Tristan Smith, now 20, made a film showing a young girl’s private parts and amassed a disturbing collection of child abuse material before being caught following contact between the National Crime Agency and Gwent Police.

Newport Crown Court heard how Smith, formerly of Graig-Y-Rhacca and now of Gwerthonor Place, Gilfach, Bargoed, was arrested in early 2023 whilst still under 18 years old. His catalogue of offences took place between January 2022 and January 2023 when he was aged just 16 and 17.

Prosecutor Rebecca Griffiths outlined how Smith admitted causing or inciting a girl under 13 to engage in sexual activity, assaulting a girl under 13 by touching, making an indecent photograph or pseudo-photograph of a child, possession of a prohibited image of a child, and possession of extreme pornographic images portraying an act which threatened life.

The prohibited images included “Hentai-style” cartoons, whilst the extreme pornography showed a woman having sex with a dog. Smith possessed hundreds of child abuse images in total.

Defence barrister Charles Archer told the court his client had no previous convictions and highlighted the three-year delay between Smith’s arrest and conviction. “There is hope for his rehabilitation. He was arrested as a child,” Mr Archer said, adding: “He can live a life without committing criminal offences.”

Judge Celia Hughes did not mince her words when sentencing Smith, telling him what he did to the young girl was “abhorrent”. Addressing his collection of child abuse images, she said: “It causes trauma, wrecks the lives of the victims and makes money for organised crime gangs.”

The judge acknowledged: “You have expressed some remorse for your offences. You have no previous convictions.” However, she noted he had attempted to explain away his offending as “thrill-seeking”.

Smith was sentenced to 31 months in a young offender institution and ordered to register as a sex offender indefinitely. He was also made subject to a sexual harm prevention order for six years and will have to pay a surcharge following his release from custody.