News presenter Huw Edwards was once the BBC’s most beloved and highly-paid anchor, but now he has been charged and pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children
BBC presenter Huw Edwards has been pleaded guilty to making indecent images of children.
The former host pleaded guilty at Westminster Magistrates’ Court to three counts of making indecent images of children.
The court heard that Edwards received 377 sexual images, including 41 indecent images of children, from an adult man during an online chat on WhatsApp between December 2020 and August 2021.
Huw has had a complete downfall since his heyday at the BBC, most notably perhaps his famous appearance announcing the death of Queen Elizabeth back in September 2022.
In what was perhaps the biggest news of the past few years, Huw announced the Queen’s death and appeared close to tears.
But as well as being one of the network’s most beloved anchors, he was also among the highest paid. In 2023/24, his BBC salary fell in the bracket of £475,000 to £479,999.
He left the BBC in April on medical grounds. During his time at the BBC he fronted the News at Ten for 20 years, being a familiar face in thousands of homes across the country.
However things started to sour for the broadcaster in April 2023, The Sun reported that a then-unnamed presenter allegedly paid a young person for sexually explicit photos. The parents of a young person contacted South Wales Police, but the force said their information related to “the welfare of an adult” and “no criminality was identified”.
This was followed weeks later on May 18 and 19 by a family member launching a complaint against a BBC presenter and a 29-minute phone call to the broadcaster. Director general Tim Davie had said that it “was very serious” – although the BBC said there were no allegations of criminality, but that it did need investigating.
However attempts to follow up on the complaint allegedly failed, with the BBC claiming replies to the email and calls to the mobile number went unanswered.
This went against what the family claimed, though. The Sun reported that “the family say no-one from the corporation rang them for a proper interview after the initial complaint”.
The case “remained open” and the BBC accepted no more attempts at contacting the family were made after that date.
The Sun went on to inform the BBC of allegations against Huw. According to the Beeb, the claims included fresh allegations, different from those which had previously been received.
They also said it was the first time Tim Davie and other execs were made aware of any alleged issues, and a group was set up to respond.
The claims from the mother that her child had been paid thousands of pounds for explicit photos were first made public by The Sun in early July. The BBC stated the allegations would be “acted upon appropriately” and they contacted the Met Police.
At the time, the presenter was still unnamed and there was a lot of speculation on social media. Stars including Gary Lineker, Jeremy Vine and Rylan Clark all spoke out denying any involvement as accusations flew.
The BBC announced that they had “suspended a male staff member” days later.
In the following days, another young person in their 20s told BBC News the presenter had contacted them on a dating app and pressured them to meet, though they never did. It was also alleged that the same presenter had broken Covid guidelines to meet a 23-year-old from a dating site, while Instagram messages between the presenter and a 17-year-old were published, which included love heart emojis.
Just days later, after much speculation, Huw’s wife Vicky Flind publicly named him as the presenter in question. According to her, she did so “primarily out of concern for his mental well-being” and in an attempt to “protect” the couple’s five children.
Vicky’s statement also said: “The events of the last few days have greatly worsened matters, he has suffered another serious episode and is now receiving in-patient hospital care where he’ll stay for the foreseeable future.
“Once well enough to do so, he intends to respond to the stories that have been published.”
She added: “I know that Huw is deeply sorry that so many colleagues have been impacted by the recent media speculation. We hope this statement will bring that to an end.”
It didn’t.
More allegations were reported of inappropriate behaviour by Huw towards junior staff at the BBC. However the Met Police found no evidence of criminal behaviour into the claims made against Huw paying a young person for explicit imagery.
Public opinion starter to change, with many speaking out in support of Huw afterwards. A parliamentary committee also asked The Sun about its editorial policy, given they had published the allegations.
But months later, the BBC apologised for the handling of the case. The allegations had been first made in May 2023 but did not reach the correct people until weeks later on July 6, forcing the BBC to change its processes.
Then the tide really began to turn for Huw, who resigned from the BBC after 40 years on “medical advice”, in April 2024. The BBC confirmed his exit did not come with a pay out.
Now, on 31 July 2024, Huw pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children.
Out of the 377 sexual images he was sent over WhatsApp, 41 were indecent images of children with 36 of them being sent within a two month period.
“On February 2021, the man asked whether the images of children he was sending Edwards were too young. Edwards replied telling him not to send any underage images,” the court heard.
“The indecent images that were sent included category A, the worst, 12 category B, and 22 category C. For the category A images, the estimated age of most of the children is between 13 and 15, with one aged between seven and nine,” the court heard.
According to PA, the final indecent image, which was sent to Huw in August 2021, was “was a category A film featuring a young boy”.
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Source: USA Today
