Devious sex offender jailed for four years.
Relentless efforts from Dyfed-Powys Police officers have seen a dangerous sex offender jailed after a six-year investigation.
The investigation started when Thomas Spalding, a 47-year-old from Brecon, exposed himself to an 11-year-old child on Snapchat.
Described by the Judge as ‘having a clear interest in young girls on the cusp of puberty’, Spalding was already a registered sex offender when he exposed himself to the child and performed sexual acts in front of the camera. Spalding denied the offence, but the quick-thinking child screen recorded the horrendous display and reported him to Gloucestershire Police.
Snapchat confirmed Spalding’s link to the involved account. This sparked the investigation that revealed the sex offender’s nature. He consistently lied, hid evidence, and made amateur attempts to disrupt the investigation. His continued offending and constantly changing defences dragged the process out to 6 years.
The ever-changing defences from the self-declared ‘expert witness’ included,
- Blaming the 11-year-old for adding him in to a group chat,
- Admitting to being the person on the screen recording (despite initially denying it) but claiming that it was pre-recorded and being played by someone else,
- Claiming it must be a pre-recorded video because he ‘wasn’t interacting with the child’ when he was exposing himself,
- Using potentially manipulated data to show that he wasn’t at the location at the time of the offence.
His Honour Judge Jeremy Jenkins recognised the investigation team’s achievement in doggedly following the evidence and undermining Spalding’s attempts to mislead them as they meticulously disproved every defence presented.
They identified the location in the screen recording as a flat belonging to Spalding’s elderly relative. They were in hospital whilst the deviant was exposing himself to children in their home. They then seized clothing from Spalding that matched the ones worn in the screen recording.
Dyfed-Powys Police’s Digital Forensic Unit used data from Spalding’s phone to prove he was in the location at the time of the offence. He tried to deny this with false location data but failed to provide the raw data to the team to verify his alibi.
Throughout the process, the twisted offender also targeted officers with a barrage of harassment that resulted in protective measures being implemented. The unrelenting torrent resulted in over 100 abusive emails being sent to several members of the investigation team and the Crown Prosecution Service. He was so persistent that he was convicted of offences under S.127 Communications Act 2003.
Despite these deluded efforts to intimidate the team, officers utilised the resources around them in a relentless investigation to get justice.
The trial commenced in Merthyr Crown Court on 21 July 2026. Spalding’s futile efforts continued in court as he changed his defences in attempts to make a mockery of the justice system. The investigation team rose to dispute each effort and were still producing evidence to refute his testimony as the trail progressed.
A jury found Spalding guilty of engaging in sexual activity with a child and on three counts of breaching his Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).
He was sentenced to four years in prison, with an extension period of 4 years. He will also be the subject of a 10-year SHPO, a 10-year Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO), and will need to register with the police indefinitely under the Sexual Offences Act. The CBO prevents him from contacting, approaching, or mentioning on social media any Dyfed-Powys Police staff, working or retired.
The leading officer on the case said: “This is a great result after so much work for so many people. It was a real team effort.
“I’ve never experienced an investigation like this. The continued offending, merging of cases, constantly changing defences, and the way that Spalding has conducted himself has been a real challenge.”
