Ex-BBC Presenter Huw Edwards Given Suspended Sentence for Child Sex Abuse Images

Former BBC broadcaster Huw Edwards arrives at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London, on Sept. 16, 2024. Aaron Chown/PA Wire

Former BBC presenter Huw Edwards has been sentenced to six months’ imprisonment suspended for two years for accessing indecent images of children.

Edwards was sentenced at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Monday, after he pleaded guilty in July to “making” indecent images after being sent 41 illegal images of children over WhatsApp, some of which involved a child as young as 7.

The 62-year-old will be subject to 25 rehabilitation sessions and will be placed on the sex offender treatment programme for 40 days, the judge said.

In his sentence, District Judge Paul Goldspring said Edwards was of previous good character and “until now you were very highly regarded by the public” being ”perhaps the most recognised newsreader-journalist.”

“It is not an exaggeration to say your long-earned reputation is in tatters,” Goldspring said.

In July, the 62-year-old had pleaded guilty to three charges of making indecent images of children, which were sent to him by Alex Williams between December 2020 and August 2021.

Seven of the multimedia materials were category A—the most serious kind—and contained mostly images of children aged 13 to 15, but two were of moving images of a child believed to be between the ages of 7 and 9. A further 12 category B pictures and 22 category C pictures were also found on Edwards’s WhatsApp account.

According to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), “making” an indecent image has a broad interpretation and can include opening an attachment in an email containing the material or receiving it via social media, even if unsolicited or part of a group communication.

The court heard Williams sent Edwards the last indecent image of a child in August 2021, a category A film featuring a young boy looking between 7 to 9 years old.

Opening the case on Monday, prosecutor Ian Hope detailed portions from the WhatsApp exchanges. He told the court, “Alex Williams says the subject is ‘quite yng looking’ to which Mr. Edwards responds it ‘can be deceptive’ and asks if he has ‘any more?’”

Edwards’s defence barrister Philip Evans, KC told the court that his client “has no memory of actually viewing any particular image.”

The court also heard about the “not insignificant sums of money” Edwards had sent to Williams, “which Mr. Williams directly asked for on several occasions, as gifts or presents, apparently off the back of sending pornographic images to Mr. Edwards, about which images they chatted.”

“Alex Williams has stated that the money was more generally to support him at university and amounted to around £1,000 to £1,500,” Hope added.

Williams had been charged in relation to the messages with Edwards and was convicted of seven offences following an investigation by South Wales Police. He received a 12-month suspended sentence.

Following Edwards’s sentencing, the CPS’s Claire Brinton said: “Accessing indecent images of children perpetuates the sexual exploitation of them, which has deep, long-lasting trauma for these victims.

“The CPS and Metropolitan Police were able to prove that Edwards was receiving illegal images and videos involving children via WhatsApp.

“This prosecution sends a clear message that the CPS, working alongside the police, will work to bring to justice those who seek to exploit children, wherever that abuse takes place.”

A BBC spokesperson said after the broadcaster’s former presenter was sentenced: “We are appalled by his crimes. He has betrayed not just the BBC, but audiences who put their trust in him.”

Salary ‘Should Be Returned’

Edwards was arrested on Nov. 8, 2023 and was charged on June 26, 2024. He resigned in April on medical grounds after having been suspended in July 2023 following unrelated allegations that he paid a young person for sexually explicit images.

At the time he resigned, Edwards was the UK’s highest-paid broadcaster, with his pay bracket being between £475,000 and £479,999.

The BBC admitted it had known the former presenter had been arrested in November, but continued to employ him for the five months until he resigned.

The corporation has asked Edwards to repay the £200,000 he had received between the arrest and his resignation.

BBC Director-General Tim Davie told the House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee last Wednesday that the broadcaster would explore a legal process to recoup the money if Edwards refuses.

“We’ve made the formal request, and I can’t go into too much detail, but discussions are under way, but I’ve got no further news, apart from the BBC’s position is clear, the money should be returned, and we made the request,” Davie told the committee.

He said that he had not set a deadline for returning the money, “but we do expect to make progress and get an answer.”

During his four decades at the corporation, Edwards had covered several historic events including the death and funeral of the late Queen Elizabeth II as well as fronting the broadcast of King Charles III’s coronation.

PA Media contributed to this report.