Former BBC News presenter Huw Edwards has pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children at Westminster Magistrates’ Court
Huw Edwards engaged in chats with a man on WhatsApp who sent him 41 indecent images of children, a court has heard.
The former BBC News presenter has today pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children at Westminster Magistrates’ Court.
He engaged in an online conversation with an adult man between December 2020 and August 2021.
The man sent Huw 377 sexual images, of which 41 were indecent images of children.
The indecent images that were sent included seven category A, the worst, 12 category B, and 22 category C, the court heard during his first public appearance in over a year.
A category A film featuring a young boy was amongst content sent to Huw. The man told Edwards that the boy was quite young looking, and that he had more images which were illegal. Edwards told him not to send any illegal images, the court was told.
No more were sent, and the pair continued to exchange legal pornographic images until April 2022. But before that, 41 indecent images of children were sent. The bulk of these, 36, were sent during a two-month period between December 2020 and August 2021.
On February 2 2021 the male asked whether what he was sending was too young, in response to which Mr Edwards told him not to send any underage images, the court heard. Of the category A images, the estimated age of most of the children was between 13 and 15, but one was age between seven and nine, the magistrates’ court was told.
Today, Edwards was emotionless as he pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children. After admitting charges, he sat staring into the distance, with his head tilted slightly upwards. He adjusted his tie as Ian Hope, prosecuting, laid out the case.
Westminster Magistrates’ was told Edwards’ offending had a starting point of 12 months in prison. However his barrister, Philip Evans KC, told the court that there were mitigating factors and the sentence should be suspended. He said: “There are serious issues in relation to Mr Edwards health, both physical and mental, at the time of the offending and now.”
Speaking after the hearing, Claire Brinton, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “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. 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.”
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Source: New York Post
