LONDON – Former BBC news presenter Huw Edwards pleaded guilty on Wednesday to three charges of making indecent images of children.
The crimes to which he pleaded guilty at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in central London during a 26-minute hearing involved images shared on WhatsApp between December 2020 and August 2021.
Edwards is remanded on bail until his sentencing hearing on September 16. He faces up to 10 years in prison.
The court heard that Edwards, 62, was involved in an online conversation with an adult man on the messaging service who sent him 377 sexual images, of which 41 were indecent images of children.
The images sent included seven of what are known as “category A”, which are the most indecent. Of these, the estimated age of most of the children was between 13 and 15 years old, but one was between 7 and 9 years old, the court was told.
The court also heard that the unidentified man asked Edwards on February 2, 2021 if what he was sending was too young. Edwards told him not to send images of minors. Five more, however, were sent and the exchange of pornographic images continued until April 2022.
Speaking in Edwards’ defense, his lawyer Philip Evans said there was “no suggestion” that his client had “in the traditional sense of the word, created any kind of image”.
Edwards, he added, “did not keep any images, did not send any to anyone else, and did not and has not looked for similar images anywhere else.”
Edwards was one of the BBC’s most prominent figures as well as one of its highest paid before he was suspended in July 2023 over separate claims made last year. He later resigned for health reasons.
His lawyer Evans told the court that Edwards had health problems “both mental and physical” and that he was “not only of good character but of exceptional character”.
In a four-decade career at the BBC, Edwards became one of its trusted voices. He was the main anchor of the BBC evening news and led the BBC’s coverage of Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in 2022.
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