BBC Staff Left ‘Sickened’ by Huw Edwards’ Shocking Criminal Revelations

The 62-year-old broadcaster, who has fallen from grace, acknowledged three charges related to the creation of indecent images of children as young as seven during a court appearance in August. He entered a guilty plea at Westminster Magistrates’ Court after receiving illegal images via WhatsApp from convicted paedophile Alex Williams.

It was subsequently disclosed that the BBC was aware of his arrest in November, based on “suspicion of serious offences,” yet continued to employ him until April, when he resigned on medical grounds. Notably, his final appearance on BBC News occurred in July 2023, coinciding with revelations that an unnamed presenter had compensated a “young person” for sexually explicit images.

Reports now suggest that numerous BBC staff members were aware that the anonymous figure was, in fact, Edwards, as he had been removed from the presenting lineup. They have expressed further dismay upon learning the full extent of his crimes.

The impact of Huw Edwards’ crimes on his former BBC colleagues has been revealed (Picture: AFP/Getty)

Katie Razzall, the BBC’s Culture and Media Editor, relayed that one staff member described feeling “sick” due to his actions, while another referred to the situation as a “bombshell.” They remarked, “We were paralysed watching those images of him in sunglasses walking to court. Was it defiance? Was it a shame? The answer remains unclear.”

There is a palpable sense of upset and anger regarding his actions, the depths to which he has descended, and the impact on the rest of the staff and the BBC. They added, “The numerous twists and turns have felt like a blow each time another horror has been revealed. It seems never-ending.”

This development follows BBC content chief Charlotte Moore’s public denunciation of Edwards, labelling him as “the piece’s villain.” She asserted, “He is undoubtedly the villain and the true victims are those unfortunate children.”

Moore also defended the BBC’s response to the situation, claiming that the organisation acted appropriately based on available evidence. In recent months, Edwards has lost his charity positions as the details of his crimes and the BBC’s actions have emerged.

1. In recent months, Edwards has lost his positions in charitable organisations as his criminal activities were revealed. The BBC reported that his now-deleted LinkedIn profile indicated last week that he was “available for no charge to charities and not-for-profit organisations,” which raised concerns among his former colleagues.

Edwards was the highest-paid presenter at the BBC, earning between £475,000 and £479,999 from 2023 to 2024. This reflected a £40,000 increase from the previous year attributed to inflation. His earnings from November alone amounted to approximately £200,000.

Last month, the court was informed that Edwards had engaged in online conversations with an adult male via WhatsApp from December 2020 to August 2021, during which the individual sent him 377 sexual images, including 41 indecent images of children.

Most of these images, precisely 36, were transmitted within two months.

On February 2, 2021, the male inquired whether the images he was sending were too young, to which Edwards reportedly responded by advising him not to send any underage pictures. The indecent images included seven categorised as A, the most severe, 12 classified as B, and 22 categorised as C.

The court was informed that the estimated ages of most children in the category A images ranged from 13 to 15, with one child estimated to be between seven and nine years old.

The last indecent image was sent in August 2021, which was a category A film featuring a young boy.

The individual informed Edwards that the boy appeared relatively young and mentioned having additional illegal images.

According to court testimony, Edwards instructed him not to send any illegal images.

No further illegal images were transmitted, and the two continued to exchange legal pornographic images until April 2022.

Edwards has been released on bail and is scheduled to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on September 16.