Ex-BBC anchor Huw Edwards pleads guilty to indecent child images charges

Edwards was the BBC’s top news anchor until he quit in April, following allegations he paid a young person for sexually explicit photos

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Former BBC news presenter Huw Edwards outside Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London, UK on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters

Published: 7:52pm, 31 Jul 2024Updated: 2:46am, 1 Aug 2024

Huw Edwards, the BBC’s former top news presenter, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to three counts of making indecent images of children.

The offences he pleaded guilty to at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in central London during a 26-minute hearing involved images shared on WhatsApp between December 2020 and August 2021 by a man who had initially contacted Edwards via social media.

The 62-year-old – resigned from the BBC in April on “medical advice”, six months after he was arrested.

Edwards gets into a car outside Westminster Magistrates Court in London on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters

The BBC said Wednesday that it was “shocked” by details that emerged in Edwards’ criminal case.

“There can be no place for such abhorrent behaviour and our thoughts are with all those affected,” a BBC spokesperson said in a statement.

Edwards was the BBC’s highest paid journalist and top news anchor until he quit in April, following allegations he had paid a young person thousands of pounds for sexually explicit photos.

Edwards, who was the lead anchor on the BBC’s nighttime news for two decades and led the public broadcaster’s coverage of the funeral of Queen Elizabeth in 2022, has been remanded on bail until a pre-sentencing hearing on September 16. He could face 10 years in prison, though the prosecution conceded that a suspended sentence may be appropriate.

Edwards arrives at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London on Wednesday. Photo: PA via AP