A predatory paedophile from Mid Wales, who is believed to be the first person to be convicted of rape of a child who has never been identified, has been jailed indefinitely.

David Ernest Bye, 43, was jailed yesterday after he pleaded guilty to the rape and sexual assault of a girl under 13, and possessing more than 17,000 indecent images of children, some of which he had taken himself, at an earlier hearing at Merthyr Crown Court.

Bye must serve a minimum of five years in jail before he is considered for release.

The court heard he groomed victims and photographed himself raping one of them.

Dyfed Powys Police officers believe Bye was the first person to be convicted of rape of a child who has never been identified.

The matters came to light when Bye, who lived in Mid Wales but worked as an accountant in Reading three days a week, had to call in IT support for a problem with his laptop.

Mr Ieuan Morris, prosecuting, said Bye’s victim was a pre-pubescent girl who was either asleep or for some reason not conscious, at night, in the isolation of his static caravan in Mid Wales.

Indecent

Bye was arrested by Thames Valley Police on January 21, 2008 but it was Dyfed Powys Police who recovered a camera containing indecent pictures of children in his caravan and took over the investigation.

From the limited backdrop available in the images, officers were able to identify the scene where offences against children were committed, which was a caravan in Mid Wales. Bye has refused to identify his victims.

Mr Morris said: “This is unquestionably an unusual and most serious case, perhaps unique, in that direct evidence of his two known acts of sexual penetration are against an unknown female under the age of 13 years.”

Mr Ian Ibrahim, for Bye, said the defendant was “a man of some intelligence” who knew handing his laptop over to IT would lead to his being found out.

Sentencing Bye, Judge Eleri Rees imposed an indeterminate sentence for the protection of the public.

After the case, Detective Inspector Diane Davies, who led the investigation, said: “We can’t change the past, we can only change the future and the future is that David Bye will not pose a risk to children for many years to come.”

By Iain St John