Huw Edwards, 62, of Southwark, London, has been accused of possessing 37 indecent images of children that were shared on WhatsApp between 2020 and 2022, according to police documents. He pleaded guilty in Westminster Magistrates Court to three charges of making indecent images of children.
Edwards was arrested in November 2023 and formally charged last month following a UK Metropolitan police investigation.
According to court documents, police investigators located six Category A images on Edwards's phone, which is the most serious indecent image classification, as well as 12 Category B images and 19 Category C images, as per the BBC.
He will appear back in court on Sept. 16 for sentencing and faces several years in prison.
Edwards was the BBC's most famous and highest-paid news anchor. He was selected to cover major national events and was one of the main presenters on BBC's primetime news slot, One's Ten O'Clock News, in which he announced the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
After allegations against Edwards were first published in The Sun last summer, the presenter stopped appearing on the network and departed the organization in April 2024 on "medical advice" after "40 years of service," the BBC said at the time. This occurred just prior to him receiving his largest salary in five years. He was arrested five months before departing the network.
The BBC said on Wednesday that the network was "made aware in confidence" in November "that he had been arrested on suspicion of serious offenses and released on bail whilst the police continued their investigation."
"At the time, no charges had been brought against Mr Edwards and the BBC has also been made aware of significant risk to his health," the network said, according to a statement obtained by Deadline.
Leftwing journalists were quick to defend Edwards after The Sun released its initial report on sex crime allegations against the presenter.
Owen Jones, an Antifa-affiliated contributor for the Guardian, wrote on X at the time: "The Sun is a disgusting rag and they have to pay for what they've done to Huw Edwards. They tried to destroy someone's life with false claims of illegality involving a minor. We know now there was no criminality, and The Sun have driven a vulnerable man into medical care."
