Former BBC’s most famous presenter Huw Edwards admits receiving child pornography

The former British public broadcaster admitted on Wednesday to having received 41 images, some of them concerning a child aged seven or nine, on the WhatsApp messaging service between December 2020 and August 2021.

Huw Edwards, long the BBC’s most famous journalist and presenter, admitted on Wednesday July 31 to possessing dozens of child pornography images received by email.

A year after the scandal that led to his removal from the airwaves and his resignation in April, Huw Edwards, 62, appeared in a dark suit and sunglasses at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London.

During a brief hearing, the man who presented the BBC’s evening news for twenty years soberly answered “guilty” to the reading by Judge Paul Goldspring of the three charges of “making indecent images of children” – which may mean the possession of electronic images.

Specifically, these are 41 images, some of which concern a child aged seven or nine, received on WhatsApp messaging between December 2020 and August 2021. As a result of this guilty plea, the sentence will be handed down later without trial. The journalist remains free under judicial supervision pending a further hearing on 16 September.

He faces up to ten years in prison, although prosecutors suggested at the hearing that a suspended sentence, with a requirement for treatment, might be sufficient given his psychological problems and the “sincere remorse” he has expressed.

Huw Edwards was long one of the BBC’s best-known presenters and its highest-paid journalist, with a salary for 2023/2024 of more than £475,000 (over 560,000 euros). He presented election nights and was the one who announced to the British public the death of Queen Elizabeth II on 8 September 2022. His downfall came abruptly last summer, when the tabloid The Sun claimed he had paid a teenager in exchange for sexual photos and was suspended. No prosecution was launched.

In April, the BBC announced his resignation, which was decided “on the advice of his doctors.” Two months later, he was indicted on new charges, which remained secret until Monday.

Huw Edwards was in contact on WhatsApp with a man who was sending him hundreds of pornographic images. The illegal images were found, “clearly sent with the agreement of Huw Edwards”, The videos mainly involved teenagers aged 13 to 15, but some included a child aged seven or nine, said prosecutor Ian Hope. After receiving a video in August 2021, the journalist asked his interlocutor not to send him any more images. “illegal”.

Huw Edwards’ lawyer insisted his client had only received the images, not shared them, and stressed that he suffered from “serious problems” health, having revealed in 2021 that he suffers from depression.