IN THE DOCK
Huw Edwards faces ten years in jail after pleading GUILTY to being sent indecent images of children in worst category
Former BBC star received a cache of images on WhatsApp - including some in the most serious category
HUW Edwards is facing ten years in jail after he today pleaded guilty to making 41 indecent images of children.
The former BBC presenter, 62, received the images on WhatsApp between December 2020 and August 2021.
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Edwards, 62, today pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children.
Westminster Magistrates' Court was told seven of the 41 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.
Category A involves images involving penetrative sexual activity, sexual activity with an animal or sadism; Category B covers images which show non-penetrative sexual activity; while Category C is for indecent images not within categories B or C.
The ex-presenter could face a maximum of ten years in prison when he is sentenced on September 16.
Prosecutor Ian Hope stressed Edwards had not created any of the images himself.
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The charge of making indecent images can mean opening an email attachment, downloading a picture or receiving an image via social media.
He said the newsreader was involved in an online chat with an adult man on WhatsApp between December 2020 and August 2021.
During this time, the man sent Edwards 377 sexual images, of which 41 were indecent images of children.
In February 2021, the man asked Edwards whether the pictures he was sending were too young - causing the broadcaster to ask not to send anything illegal.
Then in August 2021, Edwards was sent a video featuring a boy who was "of younger age than virtually all of the other indecent images".
The man told Edwards the boy was quite young looking, and that he had more images which were illegal.
The court heard Edwards told him not to send any illegal images.
No more of these pictures or video were sent and the pair continued to exchange legal pornographic images until April 2022.
Edwards' barrister Philip Evans KC told the court there was no suggestion the ex-newsreader had made or created any of the images.
He also said no indecent images had been found on any of his other devices and he had not looked for any such material from anyone else.
The lawyer added: "There's no suggestion in this case that Mr Edwards has... in the traditional sense of the word, created any image of any sort.
"It is important also to remember for context that devices, Mr Edwards' devices, have been seized, have been searched, and there's nothing in those devices.
"It is only the images that are the subject of the charges that came via a WhatsApp chat.
"Mr Edwards did not keep any images, did not send any to anyone else and did not and has not sought similar images from anywhere else."
The veteran broadcaster was arrested in November and charged on June 26 - although the information was only released on Monday.
The CPS defended its decision to reveal the information ahead of his first court appearance - despite a lawyer describing the move as "puzzling".
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 Sun revealed yesterday how the dad-of-five has split from his TV producer wife.
Edwards has moved out of the family home in Dulwich, South London, he shared with Vicky.
The couple, who got engaged in 1993, have three sons and two daughters.
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A source said: "They separated quite a long time ago but have not announced it publicly.
"Huw has been living elsewhere for a while."
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