HUW GUILTY
Huw Edwards admits being sent sexual videos of boy aged between 7 and 9 by paedo & had 39 more illegal pics of children
Veteran presenter was sent a string of indecent images on WhatsApp over an 8-month period
HUW Edwards today admitted being sent a string of indecent photos of children - including sexual videos of a boy as young as seven.
The former BBC presenter, 62, received the images on WhatsApp between December 2020 and August 2021.
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Edwards, 62, showed no emotion today as he pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children.
Westminster Magistrates' Court was told seven of the 41 images fall under Category A - the most serious classification.
This included two moving images of a young boy, possibly aged between seven and nine years old.
He also had photos of other children aged between 13 and 15 stored on his phone that were classed as Category A.
A further 12 images were grouped as Category B and 19 as Category C.
The ex-presenter could face a maximum of ten years in prison when he is sentenced on September 16.
Prosecutor Ian Hope stressed Edwards had not created any of the images himself.
The charge of making indecent images can mean opening an email attachment, downloading a picture or receiving an image via social media - even if unsolicited or as part of a group chat.
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He said the newsreader was involved in an online chat with an adult man on WhatsApp between December 2020 and August 2021.
During this time, the man sent Edwards 377 sexual images, of which 41 were indecent images of children.
The man has now been identified as Alex Williams, 25, who previously pleaded guilty to a string of child sex offences.
When police launched a probe into the convicted paedo, they seized a phone that exposed Edwards' crimes.
The bulk of these - 36 images - were sent during a two month period, the court heard.
In February 2021, the man asked Edwards whether the pictures he was sending were too young - causing the broadcaster to ask not to send anything illegal.
Then in August 2021, Edwards was sent a video featuring a boy who was "of younger age than virtually all of the other indecent images".
The man told Edwards the boy was quite young looking, and that he had more images which were illegal.
The court heard Edwards told him not to send any illegal images.
No more of these pictures or video were sent and the pair continued to exchange legal pornographic images until April 2022.
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Edwards' barrister Philip Evans KC told the court there was no suggestion the ex-newsreader had made or created any of the images.
He also said no indecent images had been found on any of Edwards’ other devices and he had not looked for any such material from anyone else.
The lawyer added: "There's no suggestion in this case that Mr Edwards has... in the traditional sense of the word, created any image of any sort.
"It is important also to remember for context that devices, Mr Edwards' devices, have been seized, have been searched, and there's nothing in those devices.
"It is only the images that are the subject of the charges that came via a WhatsApp chat.
"Mr Edwards did not keep any images, did not send any to anyone else and did not and has not sought similar images from anywhere else."
The veteran broadcaster was arrested in November and charged on June 26 - although the information was only released on Monday.
The CPS yesterday defended its decision to only reveal the information ahead of his first court appearance - despite a lawyer describing the move as "puzzling".
Edwards quit the BBC in April after 40 years reporting on some of the world's biggest stories.
This included leading coverage of the Queen's funeral and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding.
At the time of the offences, Edwards fronted coverage of Prince Philip's funeral in April 2021.
He also hosted a programme from Windsor Castle the night before the funeral, called HRH The Duke of Edinburgh Remembered.
How are indecent images defined and categorised?
Under section 1 of Protection of Children Act 1978, it is an offence to possess indecent photographs of children.
The images are categorised under three groups ranging from A - the most serious - to C.
- Category A: Explicit material involving penetration, sexual activity with an animal or sadism (deemed the most severe).
- Category B: Explicit material that is non-penetrative sexual activity (the mid-range in terms of seriousness).
- Category C: Explicit material involving erotic posing (the least severe).
Source: The CPS
Edwards was one of the BBC's highest-profile and highest-paid presenters with a pay bracket between £475,000 and £479,999 for the year 2023/24.
Now a former BBC executive has told how there was a "dark side of which his colleagues were not aware".
Professor Tim Luckhurst added: "This is a dark side which has emerged, which is clearly a criminal dark side.
"And the consequences will be very severe.
"But we've seen the downfall of a national figure, and we must recognise that dark side has been responsible for his fall.
"But that dark side was extremely well hidden."
The Sun revealed yesterday how the dad-of-five has split from his TV producer wife.
Edwards has moved out of the family home in Dulwich, South London, he shared with Vicky.
The couple, who got engaged in 1993, have three sons and two daughters.
Claire Brinton of the Crown Prosecution Service said today: “Accessing indecent images of underage people perpetuates the sexual exploitation of children, which has deep, long-lasting trauma on these victims.
“The CPS and the Metropolitan Police were able to prove that Edwards was receiving illegal material involving children via WhatsApp.
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“This prosecution sends a clear message that the CPS, working alongside with the police, will work to bring to justice those who seek to exploit children, wherever that abuse takes place.”
Edwards was bailed and will next appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on September 16 for sentencing.
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