A former BBC producer has avoided a prison sentence after being found guilty of downloading images of child sexual abuse. Dylan Dawes, 50, had more than 6,000 indecent images of children on his devices when they were seized by police.
Background of the case
Dawes, who started working for the BBC in 2000, denied having a sexual interest in children. He claimed that someone else may have used the devices, which were sometimes left overnight at the BBC’s Cardiff headquarters. At Cardiff Crown Court in April, he was found guilty of three counts of possessing an indecent image of a child, along with three counts of making an indecent image of a child, relating to more than 6,000 images found on his devices.
Sentencing
Dawes was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, at Newport Crown Court on Thursday. He was also placed on the sex offenders’ register for 10 years. Judge Egan told him: “You have paid and you will continue to pay a heavy price for what you did. The public humiliation has been, and will continue to be, significant. The ball is now in your court to ensure that you stay out of trouble – I’m confident that you will.”
Judge's remarks
Judge Egan said Dawes had sought to blame “anyone and everyone” who had access to the former BBC offices in Llandaff, casting suspicion over many of his former colleagues. He added: “The real truth, however, was this – that none of those many hundreds of people were to blame. You, and you alone, were to blame.”
Career and arrest
Dawes joined the BBC while living in London in 2000 and started his job at BBC Wales after moving to Cardiff in 2001, where he worked as a producer on radio shows and podcasts. The court heard that he was arrested in 2022 after officers searched his Cardiff home, finding indecent images on four devices, including a hard drive, laptop and two iPads. Dawes, who worked with presenters including Jason Mohammad and Rhod Gilbert, told the court he had “fairly regularly” viewed “adult pornography” but denied having downloaded incident images of children.
Defense arguments
The court heard he had “no idea” how the images were downloaded and denied having used the search term “jailbait”, suggesting someone else may have accessed the devices. Harry Baker, prosecuting, said the images had been found on four of Dawes’ devices and it was unlikely this was an “unhappy coincidence”. Dawes, of Canton, Cardiff, was suspended from his job at the BBC after his arrest and is no longer employed by the broadcaster. Andrew Taylor, defending, said Dawes did not “shy away” from the findings of the court. He said: “This is a 50-year-old man who has never been before the court in his life. This is a man who has lost everything. He is coming to terms with his offending and he will try his level best to rehabilitate.”
