HUW Edwards has avoided jail after he paid a vile predator £1,500 for child sex images and videos that the star branded “amazing”.
The former BBC presenter, 63, was given the images in a depraved WhatsApp chat by convicted paedo Alex Williams.
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Edwards has now avoided a jail sentence after he pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children.
He had faced a maximum 12 months in jail for the offences after a judge kept the case at magistrates court rather than sending it to crown.
Edwards was instead handed a six month sentenced suspended for two years.
Chief magistrate Paul Goldspring branded Edwards “perhaps the most-recognised newsreader in the UK,” before going on to say, “now your reputation is in tatters”.
The veteran newsreader was sent 41 images – including two videos of a boy as young as seven – by Williams.
He issued a grovelling apology for his “repugnant” crimes – saying he has the “utmost regret” for “damaging his family and loved ones”.
Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard he paid between £1,000 and £1,500 for the images, which he described as “amazing”.
Williams, who trawled the dark web for the vile pictures and videos, then used the cash to support himself at university.
He also asked Edwards to buy gifts for him in exchange for “all the hot videos” – including a pair of Air Force 1 trainers for Christmas.
Williams also demanded hundreds of pounds a go for the images.
On one occasion, the predator asked if Edwards wanted sexual images of a person whose “age could be discerned as being between 14 and 16”.
The newsreader replied: “Yes xxx”.
Williams later sent Edwards a full file containing around 30 attachments – including indecent images of children.
He also warned the paedo “don’t send anything underage”, the court heard.
On August 11, 2021, Williams contacted Edwards and told him he had some “naughty” images”.
Edwards told him to “go on”, and Williams says “young” before the newsreader repeated himself.
Williams said the victim in the image is quite young looking – causing Edwards to reply that “ages can be deceptive”.
When the paedo suggested that some of the images may be illegal, Edwards replied: “Ah ok, don’t”.
Edwards had engaged in an online chat with 25-year-old Williams between December 2020 and August 2021.
During this time, the paedo sent Edwards 377 sexual images, of which 41 were indecent images of children.
EDWARDS UNMASKED
By Scarlet Howes | Sun Investigations Team
THE mum of a teen sent vile messages by Huw Edwards has hit out at the disgraced BBC host in an open letter.
She tells him he caused “immense pain and suffering” to her and her son in the pursuit of his “sick pleasure”.
Edwards, 62, is due to be sentenced today over indecent images of children as young as seven found on his mobile phone.
Seven of the 41 he admitted to receiving were in Category A — the most serious classification.
The mother of the young man who Edwards paid tens of thousands of pounds to in return for sexually explicit pictures says the former news anchor should be locked up.
She writes: “Edwards has exploited very young children for his own sick ends and in my mind should go to prison.
“It breaks my heart as a mother to know that the man who groomed and controlled my son also shared the worst kind of child abuse picture.
“No paedophile who enjoys pictures of young kids should be free on the street.”
Edwards is facing a possible jail sentence when he appears in court today and could spend the rest of his life on the sex offenders register.
The anguished mum of Huw Edwards’ young victim has told the shamed BBC star: “All we cared about was stopping you.”
She poured her heart out in an open letter after she exposed the shamed News at Ten presenter for sending her teenage son tens of thousands of pounds in return for sexually explicit pictures.
Williams first got touch with the presenter because he was randomly messaging famous people to see who responded.
He pleaded guilty in March to seven offences relating to possessing and distributing indecent images.
He was handed a 12-month jail term suspended for two years.
Seven of the images fall under Category A – the most serious classification.
This included two moving images of a young child, possibly aged between seven and nine years old.
He also had photos of other children aged between 13 and 15 stored on his phone.
A further 12 images were classed as Category B and 19 as Category C.
The court heard in July that Edwards did not create any of the images himself.
The charge of making indecent images can mean opening an email attachment, downloading a picture or receiving an image via social media.
In mitigation, Philip Evans KC, defending, claimed Edwards did not make payments to Williams in order to receive indecent images of children.
How are indecent images defined and categorised?
Under section 1 of Protection of Children Act 1978, it is an offence to possess indecent photographs of children.
The images are categorised under three groups ranging from A – the most serious – to C.
- Category A: Explicit material involving penetration, sexual activity with an animal or sadism (deemed the most severe).
- Category B: Explicit material that is non-penetrative sexual activity (the mid-range in terms of seriousness).
- Category C: Explicit material involving erotic posing (the least severe).
Source: The CPS
He also claimed Edwards did not take any “gratification” from the pictures and videos.
The lawyer added: “Mr Edwards wishes to apologise. He wishes the court to know how profoundly sorry he is. He recognises the repugnant nature of such images and the hurt that is done to those who appear in such images.
“For his part in that, he apologies sincerely and he makes it clear that he has the utmost regret.
“He recognises he has betrayed the priceless trust and faith of so many people. He knows that he has hurt and damaged his family and his loved ones around him.
“He is truly sorry and he is truly sorry that he has committed these offences.”
But the court was told Edwards was described as being at a “medium” risk of causing harm to children.
JPs also heard has suffered from depression and mental health issues.
He is currently doing well “therapeutically” in the psychiatric unit of the hospital environment where he is being treated.
But this may not last if taken out of that bubble, the prosecutor said.
Mr Hope added that “his decision-making across the relevant time may have been adversely impaired by a mixture of mood disorder, neuro-cognitive disorder and alcohol consumption”.
Edwards quit the BBC in April after 40 years reporting on some of the world’s biggest stories.
This included leading coverage of the Queen‘s funeral and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle‘s wedding.
He was one of the BBC’s highest-profile and highest-paid presenters with a pay bracket between £475,000 and £479,999 for the year 2023/24.
The BBC confirmed it knew in November their star newsreader had been arrested but kept paying him for another five months.
The Sun revealed previously how the dad-of-five has now split from his TV producer wife.
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