The Metropolitan PoliceIndecent BBC News presenter Huw Edwards has been jailed for six months, suspended for two years, after pleading guilty to making indecent images of children.
The court heard that among several WhatsApp exchanges with a man later convicted of sex offences, Edwards was offered a “naughty” picture of a man he called “yng (sic)”, to which he replied “go ahead”.
He will be placed on the sex offenders register for seven years.
In JulyThe former newsreader admitted to having 41 pictures, which he sent to WhatsApp – including some showing victims aged between seven and nine.
During his sentencing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, he was also ordered to attend a sex offender treatment programme.
Edwards was sent a picture by a 25-year-old convicted sex offender named Alex Williams.
The court heard that in another exchange with Williams, Edwards answered “yes” followed by three ‘X’s when asked if he wanted sexual images of men whose “age can be discerned as between 14 and 16”.
He responded to Williams with: “Amazing”. The court heard he was also sent a link to another image, then discussed buying Williams a Christmas present.
Two months later, after another exchange, Edward told Williams: “Don’t send anything in your life”, but this was not the last contact Edwards had with Williams.
The judge who sentenced him said the former broadcaster’s “long-earned reputation” had been “damaged”.
A BBC spokesman said the company was “appalled” by Edwards’ crimes.
“He betrayed not only the BBC, but the audience who trusted him.”
ReutersEdwards pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children. By law, an image can mean a photo or a clip.
The chief judge, District Judge Paul Goldspring, accepted the submission of Edwards who did not create or create images in the conventional sense, and instead met the legal definition of doing so by opening it on WhatsApp.
The court previously heard that Edwards sent hundreds of pounds to Williams after she sent him pornographic images.
While most of the images are of adults, a significant proportion of the images are of children.
Of those 377 pictures, 41 were indecent pictures, meaning they were of age.
The court heard that the Category A images in Edwards’ possession were mostly of children aged 13-15.
One child was aged between seven and nine.
The offenses took place between December 2020 and August 2021.
Williams first contacted Edwards in 2018 via Instagram, and has since been convicted and sentenced for the distribution and possession of indecent images of children – and during the investigation, Edwards’ involvement was revealed, the court heard.
Throughout the hearing, Edwards sat leaning forward, hands clasped in front of his mouth, elbows resting on his thighs.
Summing up the case, the judge said there was no evidence that Edwards did anything more with the picture received from Williams.
The court heard Edwards did not immediately pay for the picture, but there was a clear inference that Williams would ask for prizes and gifts after it was posted, and that Edwards had sent money, which the prosecution said was generally around £1,000 to £1,500. .
Julia QuenzlerEdwards told Williams not to send the picture of the underage person, but only at a later stage, the judge said, adding “this is not the case, even if the protest is not, but the picture is still sent”.
But the judge found Edwards’ remorse was genuine, and he said the former broadcaster’s judgment at the time of the offense may have been impaired by mental health issues.
He said Edwards does not pose a risk to the public or children, and an immediate custodial sentence is unnecessary because evidence shows he can be rehabilitated.
The appropriate sentence would be 12 months for the most severe abuse images, the judge said, but, taking into account mitigation and an early guilty plea, he said the sentence would be suspended for six months over two years.
That means Edwards will not go to jail unless he commits another offense during his sentence.
The judge also read from a pre-sentence report to highlight the impact of the offense on the victims.
It describes how the dissemination of images of child abuse “perpetuates the cycle of abuse” and can cause ongoing traumatization of the victim, scaring the victim for life and potentially making people vulnerable to further sexual abuse.
Edwards was found to have seven category A images – the most serious classification.
He also has 12 pictures of category B, and 22 photos of category C, the least serious classification.
Category B and C images show children aged between 12 and 15.
In response to the sentence, the prime minister said he was “surprised and shocked” by the case.
BBC / Julia QuenzlerUntil last year, Edwards was one of the main presenters on BBC One’s News at Ten and often covered major national events.
He is the BBC’s highest-paid journalist, receiving between £475,000 and £479,999 between April 2023 and April 2024.
The BBC is asking him to return the £200,000 he earned between his arrest last November and his resignation this April.
The director general of the BBC said last week that “negotiate in a way” about the possibility of clawing back the money.
Making an indecent image – what does the law say?
“Making” an indecent image can have a wide legal definition, and it includes more than just taking or filming the original image or clip.
The Crown Prosecution Service said it could include:
- open an email attachment that contains an image
- download images from websites to the screen
- save the image on your computer
- access porn websites where images appear in automatic “pop-up” windows
- receive pictures through social media, even if they don’t want to and even if it’s in a group
- or live-streaming children’s pictures
The court must also decide whether the offense falls under the category of possession, distribution or production.
According to the Sentencing Councilwhich issued guidelines in the sentence that the court must follow unless it is in the interest of justice not to do, making the original image counts as production – more serious of the three categories. It added that “the creation of images by simple downloading should be considered as possession for the purpose of punishment”.
In a statement, Derek Ray-Hill, interim CEO of the Internet Watch Foundation, said: “It is shocking that the app that most people have on their phone in their pocket allows images of child sexual abuse to flourish.
“As a regulator, Ofcom should use the full power of the Online Safety Act, and force companies to use their best efforts to prevent images from circulating in end-to-end encrypted environments.”
Additional reporting by Ben Hatton
