Convicted piece of shit* child molester and former Lostprophets vocalist Ian Watkins will be in prison until 2049. Assuming he’s still alive, Watkins will be seventy-nine. If you ask me, that is a light sentence, given the things he has done to children (which include multiple attempts to rape an eleven-month-old), and the fact that he has been completely unrepentant about his crimes (after his arrest, he reportedly told a friend the whole thing was “megalolz” and that “I don’t know what everyone is getting so freaked out about”). But I guess the UK penal system is far more forgiving than I. After all, Watkins still has access to social media and the means to record new music. I guess you only lose those privileges if you do something really serious.

Maybe this will qualify: according to The Sun (by way of Noisey), Watkins has been “grooming” a twenty-one-year-old woman. And I don’t mean he’s been combing her hair.

The woman, who first met Watkins when she was just sixteen, apparently thought he was innocent (HOW?) and began a correspondence with him in the summer of 2016 (authorities at the Wakefield prison where Watkins is kept claim there was “nothing untoward” in said correspondence). She began to visit him, I guess somehow had no idea that he has a history of persuading young women to let him do horrible things to their children (remember, he was arrested alongside two such women, while a third ex-girlfriend was later charged with possessing and distributing child pornography), and “was shocked when he asked what she would do if her daughter ‘came into the room during sex.’” Even though she told a friend she wouldn’t let Watkins near the little girl, in December, authorities took away her laptop, cellphone, and, most importantly, her child.

And if that were the end of the story I’d feel much less nauseous than I do now. But the mother then WENT BACK TO VISIT WATKINS AGAIN in January and March; the second time, she was wearing “a ring she had bought, which [Watkins] suggested as an engagement ring.”

What in the sweet mother of all fucks holy and unholy does this crapbag have to do to lose his visitor privileges? Why the fuck would this woman be allowed to go see him again after authorities had determined that she was unfit to care for her child? MAYBE she could have claimed that she sincerely believed he was innocent despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary before she visited him… but at the point when he started asking about her two-year-old daughter and sex, her ability to make that argument went to shit. The thing to do at that point, assuming she really cared about the well-being of her infant child, would be to cut all ties to Watkins, not to buy a fucking engagement ring. So given the circumstances, and Watkins’ history of working with mentally unstable female fans in order to achieve his nefarious goals, maybe these two shouldn’t be allowed to see one another? Ya think?

I understand that prisoners have certain rights. I understand that Watkins is a very, very sick man who probably has no real control over his impulses. But keep in mind that South Wales police offers have already come under fire for not acting on knowledge of Watkins’ actions for years before he was finally arrested and prosecuted. So this new story has an extra tinge of grossness to it. It feels like time and again, the people in charge of protecting the public from Watson have demonstrated that they don’t care. As of last month — last fucking month — there were still several young female fans visiting Watkins in prison in a romantic capacity (they were “said to kiss and hold hands” with the vocalist during visits). Does this not seem ina-fucking-ppropriate to anyone else?!?

Maybe when I’m calmer I’ll have a different takeaway from all of this, but for now, I’m forced to come to the following conclusions:

Seriously. Stop letting Watkins communicate with these women. Zero fucks should be given if their correspondences seem okay on the surface. We’ve seen what Watkins does, time and again. He’s not going to stop unless someone stops him. Don’t raise young children in Watkins’ part of the world, because apparently it’s totally NBD to rape kids there.

I mean. FUCK.

*”We object to being lumped in with Ian Watkins!” objects Shit.