Former BBC news star Huw Edwards has pleaded guilty to making 41 indecent images of children – and now faces jail.
Edwards, 62, kept seven category ‘A’ images of the very worst kind on his phone after being sent them on WhatsApp by a paedophile.
The sick child porn images showed youngsters aged between seven and 14, Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard.
The veteran news broadcaster, who announced the death of Queen Elizabeth II and presented coverage of her funeral, had a total of 41 foul pictures.
He remained emotionless as he pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children, between December 2020 and August 2022.
His admission now leaves the former news star’s glittering four-decade career in tatters – and he faces up to 10 years in jail.
Edwards was arrested on November 8 last year and charged on June 26. He resigned from his £475,000-a-year role at BBC three months ago having kept news of his arrest a ‘secret’ from pals, former colleagues said.
The father-of-five moved out of the family home in Dulwich after separating from his TV producer wife, Vicky Flind.
Disgraced former BBC News reader Huw Edwards is pictured leaving Westminster Magistrates’ Court after pleading guilty to making indecent images of children
Edwards is pictured leaving the court after his brief appearance where he admitted to making indecent images of children
Edwards remained silent as he left the court building surrounded by the press today
Edwards made his way through the media melee before being driven away in a black Mercedes
A court sketch showed Edwards standing in the dock after he pleaded guilty to making indecent images of children
Friends of the ex-BBC News host said he kept his arrest ‘a secret’ and that they were stunned when news he had been charged was revealed this week (he is pictured reading the news)
Surrounded by eight police officers, Edwards arrived at Westminster Magistrates’ Court wearing black sunglasses, a blue tie, white shirt and navy-blue suit.
There were scenes of pandemonium as he made his way through the media melee to the court building, with photographers tripping to the floor to take photos of the sex predator – while protesters yelled at him.
Edwards, of Wandsworth, southwest London, spoke to confirm his date of birth, address and admit the three charges.
After entering his pleas, the disgraced newsreader sat staring into the distance, with his head tilted slightly upwards, and adjusted his tie as Ian Hope, prosecuting, laid out the case against him.
The court heard that Edwards had been involved in online chat with an adult man on WhatsApp between December 2020 and August 2021, who sent him 377 sexual images, of which 44 were indecent images of children.
The bulk of these, 36, were sent during a two-month period.
Mr Hope told the court there was ‘no suggestion’ Edwards had ‘anything to with making the images or indeed doing anything beyond the opening of the images.’
He said the Welshman ‘engaged in an online chat’ with a ‘male’ who ‘initially contacted’ him via social media.
Mr Hope said a ‘thread of WhatsApp conversations between the two’ was ‘uncovered’, adding: ‘In the thread the man sent still and moving pornographic images to Edwards between December and April 2022.
‘The prosecution say that this was clearly with Mr Edwards’ approval, and the two chatted about a number of the images sent.
‘Approximately 277 images were sent to Mr Edwards, 41 of which comprised indecent images of children – so just over 10 per cent of the total number of images sent.
‘The bulk of those indecent images of children – 36 of them – were sent to Mr Edwards during a two month period during a two month period between December 2020 and February 2021, and indeed the bulk of those were sent over a two day period.’
The prosecutor said ‘these images appeared to have been received with approval.’
Edwards was surrounded by a media scrum as he left the court in central London today
He now faces up to 10 years in jail for his crimes. Edwards is pictured leaving the court in London on Wednesday morning
This was the moment Edwards entered his car before being driven away from the magistrates’ court
Edwards now faces up to 10 years in jail for his crimes. He is pictured in a sketch inside court
The presenter did not appear to say anything to the media as he was led into the court by police
He continued: ‘In February 2021 a further five indecent images of children were sent to Mr Edwards (and) read or opened by him in the chat.
‘The final indecent images of a child was sent in August 2021, it was a cat-A moving film which depicted a male child of younger age than virtually all of the other indecent images of children.
‘Mr Edwards and the male discussed them.
‘The male said to Mr Edwards that the male in the film was quite young looking and he has more images that are illegal.
‘He tells the male not to send him illegal images and no more are sent to him although the chat continues.
‘Further legal pornographic images are sent the following year.’
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.
Speaking in Edwards’ defence, his barrister Philip Evans KC said: ‘There’s no suggestion in this case that Mr Edwards has… in the traditional sense of the word, created any image of any sort.
Edwards was flanked by police officers when he turned up for his court hearing on Wednesday
The famed former newsreader’s career now lies in tatters (he is pictured entering court today surrounded by a police escort)
Edwards, dressed in a dark navy-blue suit and blue tie, appeared withdrawn as he arrived
‘It is important also to remember for context that devices, Mr Edwards’ devices, have been seized, have been searched, and there’s nothing in those devices.
‘It is only the images that are the subject of the charges that came via a WhatsApp chat.
‘Mr Edwards did not keep any images, did not send any to anyone else and did not and has not sought similar images from anywhere else.’
He added the broadcaster had ‘both mental and physical’ health issues.
He told the court: ‘It is obvious to the court, I’m sure, that Mr Edwards was not just of good character, but of exceptional character.’
Edwards stood in the dock as Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring addressed him on his bail conditions and appeared nervous, fidgeting with his hands, before confirming that he understood the conditions.
Edwards faced a barrage of cameras and photographers as he left court.
He departed in a black Mercedes with tinted windows.
The disgraced broadcaster will be sentenced at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on September 16.
News of Edwards’ child porn charges were revealed on Monday. He was charged with the offences in June. He is pictured arriving at court today
Edwards was heckled by protesters outside the court building as he arrived today
Protesters stood outside Westminster Magistrates’ Court holding placards this morning
Edwards presented the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012 and Platinum Jubilee in 2022, the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (now the Prince and Princess of Wales) in 2011 and also the funeral of Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, in 2021.
The reputation of the BBC has been destroyed by one paedophile scandal after another dating back over half a century – with Edwards becoming the latest child sex fiend to have been employed by the corporation.
In 2001 BBC presenter and music impresario Jonathan King was convicted of sexual offences committed between 1983 and 1987 against five boys aged 14 and 15 and was jailed for seven years.
Chris Denning, one of the original Radio 1 presenters, who was a regular at ‘The Walton Hop’ with King, was jailed for 18 months for gross indecency with a child and in 1988 for three years for indecent assault on a 13-year-old boy and possession of indecent photographs.
In 2008, he was extradited from Britain to Slovakia, where he was jailed in October for five years for producing child pornography.
In 2014 Denning was jailed for 13 years after he admitted to a total to 40 sexual offences committed from 1967 to 1987 relating to 26 male victims, the youngest of whom was nine years old.
In 2016, Denning was given another 13 years after pleaded guilty to 21 sex offences against 11 boys between 1969 and 1986, the youngest of whom was aged eight.
In 2007 Actor Chris Langham, star of the BBC’s ‘In The Thick of It’ was found guilty of downloading 15 child sexual abuse images and videos.
One of the videos showed the ‘sadistic brutalisation of an eight-year-old girl.’
He was sentenced to ten months in prison and was placed on the sexual offenders register for ten years.
Last year the BBC was criticised for putting all the shows of ‘In The Thick of It’ back in on the BBC iPlayer.
In 2013 Stuart Hall, the commentator and presenter of ‘It’s A Knockout’ was jailed for 30 months for two offences of indecent assault against a girl of 13 and another against a girl under 16.
The following year legendary children’s presenter and entertainer Rolf Harris was jailed five years and nine months after he was convicted of 12 charges of indecent assault against four girls – including one aged seven.
Veteran Radio I presenter Dave Lee Travis was convicted of assaulting an adult researcher on the Mrs Merton show in 2014 and was sentenced to three months in prison, suspended for two years.
Up to 450 young people were assaulted by another ‘face of the BBC’ Jimmy Savile.
Police recorded 199 crimes in 17 police force areas in which Savile was a suspect, among them 31 allegations of rape.
The crimes stretched 1955 to 2009 and allegations included the abuse of desperately ill children and necrophilia with corpses at included Leeds General Infirmary mortuary.
BBC bosses were accused of staging various cover-ups to protect Savile. who committed the offences at hospitals and locations across the country including BBC Television Centre.
Edwards has since left the family home and has reportedly split with his TV producer wife, Vicky Flind (the pair are pictured together in 2018 in London)
Edwards was surrounded by photographers as he made his way into the magistrates’ court
The last picture of the former BBC News star captures him crossing the threshold into the court building this morning
Pictured are members of the press waiting outside Westminster Magistrates’ Court today ahead of the former BBC star’s arrival
Edwards had long been a fixture in the coverage of major political and royal events, announcing Queen Elizabeth II’s death on the BBC and presenting coverage of her funeral.
He also anchored the BBC’s broadcast of the King’s coronation last year.
The bombshell news of the veteran broadcaster’s child porn charges are said to have rocked Edwards’ former colleagues.
And it prompted questions about why it took prosecutors so long to reveal the charges Edwards is now facing.
One former colleague and friend told MailOnline: ‘Huw kept his arrest completely secret’.
‘It turns out he was arrested four months later and nobody knew. I had no idea until he was charged’, the friend from the BBC said.
Another former colleague of the star said: ‘It’s a mess – and tragic for all concerned.’
The BBC was also blindsided by the criminal charges against its former star presenter, with bosses only told of the allegations a few hours before they were made public, an insider has claimed.
A senior source told The Times: ‘The BBC was informed by the Met Police when a call came through [on Monday].’
Huw Edwards is seen arriving at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday
Edwards faced a media frenzy as he approached Westminster Magistrates’ Court today
News of Edwards’ guilty plea was welcomed by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) today, who said it would ‘send a clear message’ that offenders would be brought to justice.
Claire Brinton of the CPS 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.’
A spokesperson for child abuse charity the NSPCC added: ‘Online child sexual abuse offences can have a devastating impact on victims and we should be in no doubt about the seriousness of Edwards’ crimes.
‘It can be extremely traumatic for young people to know sexual images of themselves have been shared online.’
And Heidi Kempster, deputy CEO of the Internet Watch Foundation, said: ‘There can be no excuse.
‘This is criminal material, including images depicting the most extreme category of sexual abuse, which have real and lasting effects on victims.
‘A child’s journey to recovery can be dealt a devastating blow when they know images of their abuse continue to be circulated online for others to view.
‘We urge any children or young people worried imagery of themselves may get out of control to use the confidential Report Remove tool run by the IWF and Childline so we can help take down and block this material from being shared on the wider internet.’
Last week the BBC confirmed Edwards was paid more than £475,000 in 2023/24 before he resigned and left.
The veteran newsreader was paid between £475,000 and £479,999 for the year 2023/24 for 160 presenting days, BBC One news specials, election specials and other television programming, according to the BBC’s annual report.
This marked an increase from 2022/23, when he was paid between £435,000 and 439,999 for 180 days presenting on BBC One, as well as news specials.
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