LONDON (AP) — Britain's police watchdog says detectives missed chances to stopped pedophile rock star Ian Watkins in the years before he was charged with child sex abuse.

Watkins, lead singer of the Welsh band Lostprophets, was sentenced in 2013 to 29 years in prison for crimes against children as young as 1.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission said Friday that South Wales Police made mistakes and in some cases failed to "carry out even rudimentary investigation" into reports about Watkins' behavior by an ex-girlfriend and other witnesses between 2008 and 2012.

Ex-girlfriend Joanne Mjadzelics told police in 2009 that she had a cellphone message from Watkins about his desire to sexually abuse children. The watchdog said police considered her report "malicious" and didn't examine the phone.

Watkins was arrested in 2012.