US detectives say they fear Welsh child sex offender Gareth Hall, who was jailed for 50 years in America last year, may have targeted others.
Gareth Vincent Hall, 22, was arrested at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport in May 2015.
He has since been jailed for 50 years for his crimes after he admitted four counts of rape, one of the online sexual corruption of a child, and two other serious sexual offences.
The judge was required to impose at least a 25-year sentence under Oregon’s version of Jessica’s Law, named after a girl who was abducted and sexually assaulted before being brutally murdered.
The judge opted for 50 years, the maximum under the plea Hall agreed to.
Former Eugene Police Detective Jeff Donaca, from Oregon, USA, said: “He got what he deserved.”
The now retired detective has spoken out about their case against Hall and S4C true crime series Y Ditectif will reveal the details of how Hall groomed a 10-year-old girl in the US.
Detective Jed McGuire explains how the 22-year-old former Caernarfon lifeguard started his communication via a chat application, pretending to be two teenage girls.
Det McGuire said: “They met when he contacted her on a chat site. He pretended to be two girls.
“He went so far as to make a video of these girls and play that video for this victim.”
Y Ditectif retraces Hall’s movements in the US to where he met his victim.
He took the girl to various motels over four days before the girl’s family called police reporting the 10-year-old had been raped.
“The things that happened were horrific. For her there was fantasy of what she wanted life to be like”, said Det Donaca.
Police arrested Hall in Chicago two years ago after police discovered he was flying back to the US for another visit.
Police have not been able to confirm his intended destination but fear he may have targeted others.
“I believe the possibility of Gareth Hall having other victims is very real.
"His return to the US lacked a lot of explanation and inconsistent with his stated purpose that he wanted to view middle America,” said Det Jed McGuire.
An FBI-led appeal did not lead to any other charges.
Following his arrest in Chicago, Hall, from Talysarn, near Caernarfon, maintained he thought his victim was 16 or 17 years old.
But the victim’s statement to the police presents a different account.
“She disclosed that she initially told him she was 14 years old but later told him she was 10”, Det Donaca recalled.
Hall pleaded guilty to the charges.
In March 2016 he was given a 50-year jail sentence without parole at Lane County Court.
Hall declined to be interviewed on the programme and sent a letter to the programme makers saying “he wasn’t ready to share his side of the story”.
The show sees presenter Mali Harries visit the Eastern Oregon Correctional Facility, where Hall is now serving his sentence.
“There was an argument that a sentence of 50 years is more than murder”, Det Donaca added.
“In some cases that is true but in this case, given what he did to a 10-year-old, repeatedly, and the laws that we have here, he got what he deserved.
“Those type of predators don’t belong back on our streets, in America, in Wales, anywhere.”
Y Ditectif, a ITV Cymru production, airs on May 16 at 9.30pm on S4C with English and Welsh subtitles
