Former BBC anchor Huw Edward was handed a six-month suspended prison sentence for two years after pleading guilty to making indecent images of children.
The Hollywood Reporter reported that during his sentencing at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court, Edwards said he was “profoundly sorry” for the “repugnant” images. Since he was handed the suspended sentence, Edwards will have only served time in prison if he reoffends within the next two years.
Along with the six-month prison suspended sentence, ex-BBC anchor Huw Edwards will also have to attend a sex offender rehabilitation program. There are 25 sessions in total for this program.
Edwards was notably arrested in Nov. 2023 and charged in July 2024. He was found to have 41 indecent images of children that were sent to him by another man, Alex Williams, a convicted pedophile, through WhatsApp between Dec. 2020 and Apr. 2022.
It was revealed that seven of the pictures were considered category A images, the most severe classification. Two of which showed a child between seven and nine.
Following the sentencing, a BBC spokesperson released a statement. “We are appalled by his crimes,” the statement reads. “He has betrayed not just the BBC, but audiences who put their trust in him.”
Huw Edwards hosted BBC’s News at Ten and covered multiple historic events, including the 2012 London Olympic Games and the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
Huw Edward Was Suspended By BBC Months Before His Arrest
Months before he was arrested, Edwards was suspended by the BBC. This was after allegations surfaced about him paying a teenager for sexually explicit photos. Authorities did not take action against him relating to those images because of a lack of evidence.
However, Huw Edwards officially resigned from the BBC in Apr. 2024.
The Metropolitan Police told the BBC “in strict confidence” that Edwards was arrested in Nov. 2023. “We knew it was serious,” director-general Tim Davie said. “We knew no specifics, apart from the category of the potential offenses.”
He also stated that the BBC executives were not aware of the ages of the children in the images. When asked why Edwards was not fired at the time of his arrest, Davie shared, “Because the police came to us and said they need to do their work in total confidence, [and said], ‘please keep this confidential.’”
Davis continued by stating, “We thought long and hard about this. This wasn’t a knee-jerk decision. When you think about this in terms of precedent, people do get arrested, and then we’ve had situations where [there are] no charges, and there’s nothing there to be followed up on.”
Edwards was been asked to pay back the BBC around 200,000 pounds ($255,000).