James Thomas has been jailed for more than four years for child sex offences
Lucy John and Neil Shaw Assistant Editor
12:30, 20 Jul 2025
James Thomas
A man who dressed as Spider-Man for children’s parties and claimed to have visited schools and children’s hospital wards in character was a paedophile. James Thomas, 37, lured a girl into the back room of a petrol station where he worked and abused her when he was in his 20s.
The offences happened in 2012 and 2013, and Thomas’s victim reported him to police in 2023 when she saw on Facebnook he was advertising himself as a children’s entertainer, reports WalesOnline.
The woman said she first met Thomas when she was around eight or nine years old. The abuse started when she was around 13 or 14 years old, until she was 15.
She said it took years for the abuse to start, adding: “He didn’t do anything sexual at that point, but he seemed over familiar and was gaining my trust in a gradual way. It was nothing obviously illegal, but he was pushing my boundaries.
“Then it started with high fives and hugs – very tight hugs, not just a friendly hug. He would give me a high five and hold on to my hand, keeping it there as long as he could. Then he [started working at the] garage.”
She said he would invite her to the garage and give her cigarettes, when she was aged 14.
She said: “He got my number and he started texting me, asking if I wanted to come down and help him stack the shelves and have a chat. That’s when things became weird. He would ask me to come down on my own, and tell me not to come down with anyone.
“He would ask if I wanted to go into the back room and restock the storage cupboard so it was all tidy. He would follow me and that’s when [the abuse] would happen. It started with hugs and kisses, then moved on to more sexual stuff after a few weeks.
“He put his hands down my trousers and then he would ask me to touch him and do stuff to him. That sort of stuff went on for a few months.”
As she got older and began to understand the gravity of Thomas’ actions, Chloe said she began using drugs as a coping mechanism. I n 2020 she came across a Facebook page used by Thomas where he advertised himself as a children’s party entertainer who dressed up like Spider-Man.
She said: “This was the final straw. When I saw that he had been dressing up like Spider-Man for children I felt awful. I wish I said something sooner so that it didn’t get to that point I look back and there were a lot of ifs and buts.
“But after [so many] years I didn’t want to risk just coming out with it with no evidence, no dates, no times. In a court of law that’s not going to get very far is it?”
Thomas later messaged her on Facebook. She said: “I asked him why he liked me when I was so young? I said: ‘If you are really sorry you will apologise for what you have done and tell me what you did’.”
In screenshots seen by WalesOnline Thomas told Chloe: “It was so wrong.” He continued: “Yer I do remember I’m still feeling bad over it. I’m disgusted with myself for doing it. If I could take it back I would x.”
He proceeded to state a number of sexual acts that he subjected Chloe to and apologised for each of them, adding: “It had to stop.”
She said: “The day after I confronted him, I saw him walking to Asda and he walked up to me and hugged me. This was less than 12 hours after he admitted it to me.”
Thomas’s Facebook profile was filled with pictures of him dressed as Spider-Man at numerous children’s parties and events. He can be seen hugging, carrying and high fiving many children.
He claimed to have visited a children’s ward but Swansea Bay University Health Board told WalesOnline they have “no record of any such a visit”.
Thomas, of Tawe Street in Morriston, was sentenced at Swansea Crown Court on July 10, 2025. He had previously pleaded guilty to five counts of sexual activity with a child and one count of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.
He has no previous convictions and a judge said it was clear from psychological and probation reports that Thomas’ intellectual and emotional age was less than his chronological age. She told him: “You knew what you were doing was wrong”.
Thomas was sentenced to four years and four months in prison. He will be a registered sex offender for the rest of his life.