Ex‑BBC Wales Producer Found Guilty After 6,200 Indecent Images of Children Discovered

A former BBC Wales producer has been found guilty of downloading thousands of indecent images of children after attempting to blame colleagues and claiming he had no idea how the material ended up on his devices.

Dylan Dawes, 50, worked on radio shows for well‑known presenters and comedians while based at the broadcaster’s headquarters in Llandaff, Cardiff. During his trial, the court heard that Dawes had downloaded more than 6,200 indecent images, including 192 Category A images, the most serious classification.

A judge said there was “overwhelming evidence” against the married father‑of‑three, who had the images spread across four devices — a laptop, a hard drive and two iPads.

Search terms included ‘jailbait’

Jurors were told that Dawes had used search terms such as “jailbait” while accessing the illegal material. Despite this, he insisted he had “no idea” how the images appeared on his devices, suggesting that colleagues at the BBC could have used them while he left them unattended in open‑plan offices.

Dawes told Pulse Media he had worked as a producer for BBC Radio Wales before moving into a digital content role. He said he often left his computer at his desk for “extended periods of time” while working in studios.

Police raid after family holiday

The court heard that Dawes had returned from a family holiday to Disneyland Paris in February 2022, arriving home at around 1am. Just six hours later, police officers woke him at his home in Canton, Cardiff, and arrested him. He was taken to Cardiff Bay police station for questioning.

Dawes was suspended on full pay following his arrest and later signed off sick with stress. He admitted he did not carry out any investigation into who else may have accessed his devices.

Prosecutors said the offences spanned 16 years, between December 2006 and March 2022. Devices seized included a Freecom hard drive, a Compaq laptop and two iPads.

Dawes denied all wrongdoing

In interviews, Dawes denied possessing or making any indecent images, claiming he had “never knowingly used, accessed, downloaded or sought indecent images of children”. He said he had only downloaded “regular pornography” and suggested colleagues could have used his devices.

However, the jury rejected his explanation after a four‑day trial.

Found guilty on all counts

Dawes was found guilty of three counts of possessing indecent images and three counts of making indecent images. He has been bailed ahead of sentencing next month and must now register as a sex offender.

Judge Eugene Egan told him:  

“The jury has found you guilty on what they found to be absolutely overwhelming evidence.”

A pre‑sentence report and medical report will be prepared before he returns to court.