Disgraced former BBC presenter pleads guilty to having indecent images of underage children

Former BBC News presenter Huw Edwards entered a guilty plea in London court July 31, 2024, over charges that he created indecent images of children.

The court date, which followed news earlier in the week that Edwards would face three counts of making indecent images of children, required the former anchor to voice his plea to the charges.

The court accepted the pleas and scheduled his sentencing for Sept. 16, 2024. Edwards could face up to 10 years in jail.

Edwards, 62, is accused of interacting with a man on WhatsApp. The unidentified adult allegedly sent 377 sexual images to Edwards, including 41 of children. Edwards was not charged over the other images.

Court documents show Edwards is accused of having seven Category A images, which amount to the most serious classification under British law, 12 Category B images and 22 Category C images.

According to court investigative records, Edwards did request that the individual stop sending further images of underage children after a brief exchange about the ages of the subjects.

After a final Category A video of a young boy was allegedly exchanged, the two continued to exchange legal pornographic images.

Edwards’ barrister told that court that it does not appear the former presenter was involved in creating any images “in the traditional sense of the word,” asserting that his client did not “keep” or distribute or share the images. He also told the court Edwards did not continue to seek similar images.

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Edwards, who spent more than 20 years at the BBC, eventually rising to become one of the biggest faces at the broadcaster. He anchored the signature “BBC News at Ten” but resigned on “medical advice” in April 2024 after disappearing from the air in the summer of 2023.

Edwards had been the BBC’s highest-paid employee, making between £475,000, or $610,000 and £479,999, or $616,000, from April 2023 to March 2024, according to the broadcaster’s recently released annual report.