Huw Edwards Pleads Guilty to Making Indecent Images of Children; BBC Expresses Shock Ove

 Posted on August 7, 2024  |  6 minutes  |  1098 words  |  Reinaldo Massengill

UPDATE: The BBC has issued a statement about Huw Edwards‘ guilty plea. A spokesperson said the corporation was “shocked” to hear of the details that emerged in court on Wednesday and that Edwards was no longer a BBC employee when he was charged, having resigned two months earlier. Read the full statement below.

PREVIOUSLY: Huw Edwards has pled guilty to three charges of making indecent images of children during his first appearance in a U.K. court.

On Wednesday morning, Edwards appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court in London to acknowledge the charges before Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring and a packed press gallery.

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The former BBC news anchor, who was once one of the highest paid figures at the BBC, showed no emotion as he was led through Courtroom 1 and into the glass-panelled dock, dressed in a dark suit, white shirt and blue tie. While he entered the courthouse in dark sunglasses, he had removed these before entering the court.

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Edwards spoke only to give his name, date of birth and his partial U.K. address, to enter his plea for each charge and to confirm he understood the bail conditions. His counsel requested that, in contravention of U.K. court tradition, Edwards should not read out his full address due to the “volatile” situation outside the court which included protests.

The prosecutor explained how the images were sent to him via WhatsApp by “an adult man who contacted Mr Edwards on social media.” They were automatically saved to his phone. Edwards asked the WhatsApp sender to stop sending “illegal” images of underage children. The chat continued thereafter with “further legal pornographic images” being sent.

The charges related to 41 images and videos that were shared on the messaging site between 2020 and 2022. Six of those were Category A, considered the most serious.

The maximum sentence is 10 years in prison.

The sentencing has been adjourned until September for a pre-sentence report. In the meantime, Edwards has been released on conditional bail.

His lawyer told the court in mitigation that Edwards was a man “not only of good character but of exemplary character.” He also added there were mental health issues at play “at the time of the offending and now.” The lawyer was also keen to emphasize that Edwards had not “made” any images or videos in the “traditional” sense.

The news anchor, who had spent 40 years at the BBC, resigned in April citing medical advice. He had been on a 10-month absence of leave after a tabloid newspaper revealed a senior presenter at the BBC had been involved in a sex photo scandal. Although Edwards was not initially named, after rumors reached fever pitch his wife made a statement confirming the BBC anchor was implicated and had checked into a hospital for mental health treatment.

Read the BBC’s full statement below:

The BBC is shocked to hear the details which have emerged in court today. There can be no place for such abhorrent behaviour and our thoughts are with all those affected.

The police have confirmed that the charges are not connected to the original complaint raised with the BBC in the summer of 2023, nevertheless in the interests of transparency we think it important to set out some points about events of the last year.

In November 2023, whilst Mr Edwards was suspended, the BBC as his employer at the time was made aware in confidence that he had been arrested on suspicion of serious offences and released on bail whilst the police continued their investigation. At the time, no charges had been brought against Mr Edwards and the BBC had also been made aware of significant risk to his health.

Today we have learnt of the conclusion of the police process in the details as presented to the court. If at any point during the period Mr Edwards was employed by the BBC he had been charged, the BBC had determined it would act immediately to dismiss him. In the end, at the point of charge he was no longer an employee of the BBC.

During this period, in the usual way, the BBC has kept its corporate management of these issues separate from its independent editorial functions.

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