Gwion Griffiths, a masked Gwynedd Paedophile sexual offender, engaged in a sexual act near a 10-year-old child while she was seated in her mother’s vehicle. The child had recently been collected from school and was waiting as her mother entered the stores.
Gwion Griffiths, 32, seemed to be “waving” at the girl from a window of a flat in Dolgellau, Gwynedd, last December while committing the act. Griffiths, who previously pleaded guilty to exposure, was sentenced today at Caernarfon Magistrates’ Court to 24 weeks of imprisonment as a public safety risk.
Prosecutor Sion ap Mihangel stated that the girl, whose identity is protected, was retrieved from school and transported to Dolgellau town centre. The girl occupied a booster seat in the front passenger seat while her mother briefly left her for around five minutes to visit the shops, stated Mr. ap Mihangel.
The girl saw Gwion Griffiths in a flat across the road from a shop. She noticed a Christmas tree and a male who “appeared to be waving at her”.
But, the prosecutor said: “He was wearing a mask and a jumper” and was snaked from the waist down. She could see he was shaking his p**** or “p” as the girl put it. In other words he was performing a sex act, the prosecutor said.
The court heard the mother came back to the car and the girl told her “to just drive”. “She had her hands up to her face as if she was blocking her vision.
“She told her mum she had seen a man in a window. He was holding his w**** and swinging it around,” the prosecutor told the court. The court heard the woman and her husband discussed the incident and decided to tell the police.
Gwion Griffiths was traced and initially denied the offence of exposure. But he admitted his guilt shortly before his trial, meaning that his victim did not have to give evidence.
In fact, Mr ap Mihangel said the girl had been “totally unaware” that there was a possibility that she may have had to testify, with her parents revealing she had tried to blank out the entire incident. The prosecution had been told that a late guilty plea was likely.
Today the court also heard that Gwion Griffiths had moved from another Gwynedd town following a conviction in March last year for an almost identical offence. He received an eight-month jail term, suspended for 24 months, for that crime.
Carla Forfar, defending Gwion Griffiths, said the latest offence in Dolgellau had been “a chance matter”. “He was in his flat. He had not sought out his victim. He has seen a chance and has overcome his inhibitions,” she said.
He had been “playing with his p**** and would appear” to have performed a sex act. She said Griffiths, of Smithfield Street, Dolgellau, is isolated and the sort of person who stays in his flat most of the time.
Over the summer he managed to hold down a job in the hospitality industry. But he would very much like to get help. “He’s not without saving,” she added.
Earlier, the defence solicitor had argued that Gwion Griffiths had been “crying out for some help” and applied for an adjournment for a psychiatric assessment to be carried out. But the magistrates rejected that application.
Magistrates chairman Sarah Foskett imposed the immediate prison term, saying: “The reason it’s not suspended is the risk and danger to the public.” She told Gwion Griffiths his name would be placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register, and he would have to register with the police, for the seven years.
He was also given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for the next five years. On his release from prison he must pay a £128 surcharge.
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