PA Media reported that a London court has jailed the former BBC news presenter Huw Edwards for six months, suspended for two years, after he was found to have lewd photos of minors.
The conditions of his suspended sentence include attending a 25-session rehabilitation programme and a sex offender treatment programme.
In July, Edwards, who is one of the highest-paid journalists at the BBC, pleaded guilty to possessing 41 indecent photographs of minors.
Before the public became aware of Edwards’ crimes, Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring said that at the time of Edwards’ sentence, it was “obvious” that the journalist was “very highly regarded by the public.”
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A London court has sentenced former BBC news presenter Huw Edwards to six months in jail with a two-year suspension for possessing lewd photos of minors, PA Media reported.
The conditions of the suspended sentence include a 25-session rehabilitation program and a sex offender treatment program.
In July, Edwards, the BBC’s highest-paid journalist, pleaded guilty to possessing forty-one indecent photographs of minors.
Before the public was made aware of Edwards’ crimes, Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring said during Edwards’ sentence that it was “obvious” that the journalist was “very highly regarded by the public.”
The journalist “did not make payments for images to be sent to him, and he certainly did not make payments in order that indecent images would be sent to him,” defence attorney Philip Evans KC said.
Under English law, seven of the photographs that had been exchanged with Edwards were of the most serious type of child indecent photographs. It was considered that the majority of the children in them were between thirteen and fifteen years old. One youngster was from seven to nine years old.
The Crown Prosecution Service for England and Wales said it charged individuals with the crimes between December 2020 and August 2021.
Edwards had earlier testified before the court that he told a man on WhatsApp to stop sending him pictures of minors after he asked if what he was sending in was too young. The court heard that after that correspondence, no further illicit photographs were sent through, although the two were still allegedly sharing legal pornographic images up until April 2022.
Edwards “did not gain any gratification” from the lewd photos, said his defence attorney, Evans, who also told the court on Monday that the journalist is “truly sorry he has committed these offences.”
“He understands the hurt that is done to those who appear in such images as well as the repulsive nature of such indecent images,” Evans said. “He offers his sincere apologies for his part in that.”
The BBC’s face
He hosted the BBC’s flagship News at Ten in addition to the News at Six, making him the American equivalent of a network evening news show anchor. He very often fronts any BBC News specials; he announced the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022.
In fact, the presenter did not step down until late this April, when he was barred from BBC in July 2023 and arrested four months later.
In the meantime, he remained on the BBC’s payroll, taking home £ 200,000—roughly $264,000—between his arrest and his resignation. The BBC instructed Edwards to return that part of his earnings because it is funded by licensing fees that nearly every UK household pays.
UK Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy also said the money should be refunded.
In August, the station’s governing board announced that Edwards had pled guilty to “an appalling crime.”
The board said, “He has obviously damaged public confidence in the BBC and tarnished our reputation.”
