Top BBC Anchor Sentenced After Paying Convicted Pedophile Who Sent Him Child Abuse Images

(Press Association via AP Images)

Ex-BBC news anchor Huw Edwards was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years by a London court after paying a pedophile who sent him indecent images of children.

Edwards was chief presenter on the BBC News at Six and the BBC’s flagship News at Ten, formerly the highest-paid journalist on the BBC’s roster and regarded by many as the face of the broadcasting corporation’s news operation in the UK.

With the suspended sentence the disgraced journalist must also complete a sex offender treatment program and 25 rehabilitation sessions.

In July Edwards pleaded guilty to possessing 41 indecent images of children sent as he engaged in online chats with a convicted pedophile on WhatsApp. Between December 2020 and August 2021 the man sent him a total of 377 sexual images, some featuring children as young as seven. Seven of the images shared were deemed the most serious categorization of material.

Edwards paid the man up to £1,500 during this time, although he claimed in his defense that he “did not make payments in order for images to be sent to him.” Edwards also said that he “positively told” the pedophile to stop sending him sexual images of children. He told the court that he “did not gain any gratification” from the illegal images.

Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring reminded the journalist at Monday’s hearing that he was “very highly regarded by the public” before his crimes became public.

“Your long-earned reputation is in tatters,” the judge added.

Edwards was suspended when the allegations about his conduct first emerged in July 2023 but remained on the publicly-funded broadcaster’s payroll as investigations were ongoing, receiving $264,000 during that period.

Both the BBC and UK’s Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy have demanded he pay back at least a portion of those funds.