Mother who blew the whistle on Huw Edwards says he’s a ‘monster’
A mother who blew the whistle on Huw Edwards has revealed how she broke down in tears after hearing the disgraced BBC star had pleaded guilty to child porn offences.
She said it ‘sickens’ her knowing that the 62-year-old paedophile was under the possession of sexual videos of minors while also allegedly asking her own child for explicit photos.
Edwards was suspended in July 2023 over claims that he paid a young man for sexual images.
The family of the unnamed young person originally complained to the BBC about Edwards in May 2023, and he was publicly named by his wife as the well-known TV presenter at the centre of the allegations in July.
The Metropolitan Police later said that no criminal offence had taken place. ‘These allegations did not form part of the matter which was considered by police in July 2023. They were investigated separately as a standalone case,’ a police spokesperson said.
Disgraced former BBC News reader Huw Edwards is pictured leaving Westminster Magistrates’ Court after pleading guilty to receiving indecent images of children
A court sketch showed Edwards standing in the dock after he pleaded guilty to making indecent images of children
Speaking to The Sun, the mother who first reported Edwards, said: ‘It sickens me to my core that he had those videos of that little boy when he was also talking to my child and asking them for sexual pictures. I knew he was an abuser — but now I know he is truly a monster.’
Edwards was arrested on November 8 2023 for making indecent images of children and charged on June 26.
In April, he resigned from the BBC ‘on the basis of medical advice from his doctors’ but was still the highest paid journalist at the corporation last year.
Edwards today pleaded guilty to making indecent images of children, which included two sexual videos of a boy under nine.
The veteran news reader received seven category ‘A’ images of the very worst kind on his phone and was sent them on WhatsApp by a paedophile.
He had a total of 41 foul images, showing youngsters between the age of seven and 14, Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard today.
The mother who first blew the whistle said there were times she ‘wanted to die’ after people attacked her over the allegations she made, which were published by The Sun.
She told the newspaper: ‘I thought perhaps it was best if I wasn’t here anymore. I felt the whole world was against me.
The youngster’s stepfather, who originally made the complaint, added: ‘Everyone who doubted us needs to take accountability.
‘We never wanted to take it further, but the BBC didn’t listen. We feel so sorry for his wife and children and our hearts go out to them.’
After Edwards appeared at court, the BBC revealed that it was told in November 2023, when Edwards was suspended, that he had been arrested on ‘suspicion of serious offences’, five months before he resigned from the corporation in April.
In a statement, the broadcaster claimed Edwards would have been dismissed ‘immediately’ if he was charged while still an employee at the corporation.
The widely issued statement was shared to BBC staff with an internal note co-signed by the corporation’s director general Tim Davie, Deborah Turness, chief executive of BBC News & Current Affairs, and group chief operating officer Leigh Tavaziva.
The note said: ‘Many of you will have seen the news today that Huw Edwards has pleaded guilty to charges against him.
‘We are appalled by this news – there can be no place for such behaviour.’
Following on from the official BBC statement, the co-signed note to staff added: ‘Some of you may feel shocked and saddened by this news and some of you will have worked closely with Huw Edwards over the years.
‘Many of you will be working on this story, and we want to thank you for your professionalism in carrying on with your jobs in difficult circumstances’.
The note ended saying if staff had ‘been affected in any way by today’s news please do make full use of our wellbeing resources’, which include the ‘free, confidential employee assistance programme and the BBC’s peer support network’.
Edwards is pictured leaving the court after his brief appearance where he admitted to making indecent images of children
Edwards made his way through the media melee before being driven away in a black Mercedes
Welsh broadcaster Edwards, 62, resigned from the corporation in April 2024 and had been off air since July last year.
On Wednesday, a court heard he was involved in an online chat with an adult man on WhatsApp between December 2020 and August 2021, who sent him 377 sexual images.
During that period, he anchored coverage of major national events for the BBC and had presented the BBC’s News At Ten for decades.
During his four decades at the corporation, he was among the broadcasting teams leading coverage of historic events including the late Queen’s funeral in 2022 and most recently the coronation of the King in May 2023.
Edwards, a married father of five, also announced the late Queen’s death on the BBC in September 2022.
