by Huw Edwards’ career is in trouble but the presenter’s crimes were only discovered by chance.
In July 2023 came the Sun reported allegations of payments made by the presenter to a 17-year-old in exchange for sexually explicit images. Although the stories effectively ended Edwards’ BBC career, the Met Police found no evidence of a crime.
However, a separate investigation was launched into Alex Williams from Merthyr Tydfil whose WhatsApp messages were found on his phone, in which he sent images of Edwards’ child abuse.
Williams said the two met only once, and prosecutors found evidence of one video call, but the full extent of their relationship will never be known.
Messages on other platforms including Telegram were not recovered – and neither was Edwards’ use of the phone.
The former BBC presenter, 63, was first arrested for his crimes in November last year after South Wales Police seized Williams’ phone.
The device contained sickening WhatsApp messages between Williams and Edwards over a 16-month period.
Williams sent the BBC star 377 pictures and videos. Although the majority were young men, 41 pieces of media featured children – seven of which fell into the more serious Category A content.
At Edwards’ sentencing on Monday, Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard that the messages began in December 2020 after 19-year-old Williams contacted Edwards on Instagram.
Prosecutor Ian Hope told the court: “In December 2020, Alex Williams said he had ‘a file of vids and pics for [Huw Edwards] someone special.’
“Mr Edwards immediately asked who the subject was and then added three images of the same person.”
The young boy was aged between 14 and 16, and when asked if he wanted the “full file” from Williams, Edwards replied: “Yes xxx…”
This prompted Williams to send more explicit content to the presenter, including a category A video of a boy believed to be between 13 and 15 years old.
When Williams told Edwards he had more “hot” material to send, he said the files were too large to exchange on WhatsApp, prompting the presenter to suggest he use Dropbox.
The court heard that the men communicated on various platforms, including Telegram, which has a self-destructing messaging feature.
Edwards’ phone was never found. The Met police said The Independent that it had not been in use “for some time” before the arrest, adding: “There was no evidence of any obstruction or concealment on the part of Edwards.”
Only the WhatsApp chat from Williams’ seized phone was successfully recovered.
In messages dated February 2, 2021, Williams asked Edwards if there were children “too young” in the media he was sending and the presenter asked him to refrain from sending underage material.
But in another exchange, when asked if he would like to see the content of “naughty pictures and videos” of someone called “yng”. [sic]”, Edwards wrote “go on”.
The court heard that Edwards paid Williams substantial sums of money which was described as a “gift” rather than payment for the material.
Mr Hope said: “It is also clear that Mr Edwards was paying inconsequential sums of money – in the low hundreds of pounds on an occasional basis – to Alex Williams which Mr Williams directly solicited on a number of occasions, as gifts or presents, apparently. back from sending pornographic images to Mr Edwards, about the images they spoke to.
“Alex Williams has said that the money was more generally to support him at university and was around £1,000 to £1,500.”
News of the investigation into Edward’s illegal activity was published in July this year after he was charged with three counts of making indecent images of children in relation to a WhatsApp chat in June.
He pleaded guilty during a 26-minute hearing that month, and his barrister Philip Evans KC said Edwards had “physical and mental health issues” at the time.
Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring noted on Monday that the presenter had previously been of “good character” when handing down the sentence.
He reportedly took three months off the 12-month guideline sentence for Edward’s previous good character and a further three months because of Edwards’ quick guilty plea.
The presenter’s six-month sentence is suspended for two years. He will be on the sex offenders register for a total of seven years and will have to attend 25 rehabilitation sessions.
Edwards’ barrister said his client recognizes the seriousness of his offenses and wishes to apologize to everyone he has hurt.
Mr Evans said: “He recognizes the disturbing nature of those indecent images and the hurt he has caused to those who appear in those images. For that, he sincerely apologizes and makes it clear that he is very sorry. He recognizes that he has pledged the precious trust of so many people.
“He recognizes that he has hurt and damaged his family and loved ones around him. For all those things he is truly sorry and he is truly sorry that he committed these offences.”
