Huw Edwards, Former BBC Anchor, Charged With Making Indecent Images of Children
Huw Edwards, who was until recently one of the BBC’s highest-profile TV anchors, has been charged with three counts of making indecent images of children, London’s Metropolitan Police said on Monday.
Mr. Edwards, 62, presented the BBC’s flagship 10 o’clock evening newscast and led the broadcaster’s coverage of major national events, including the death and funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, and the coronation of King Charles III last year.
He left the broadcaster in April 2024.
On Monday a statement from the Metropolitan Police said that Mr. Edwards would appear at Westminster magistrates’ court on Wednesday charged with sharing illegal images on WhatsApp.
Mr. Edwards, of Southwark, London, “has been charged with three counts of making indecent images of children following a Met Police investigation,” the statement said.
“The offenses, which are alleged to have taken place between December 2020 and April 2022, relate to images shared on a WhatsApp chat,” it said, adding that Mr. Edwards had been arrested on Nov. 8, 2023.
It added: “He was charged on Wednesday, 26 June following authorization from the Crown Prosecution Service.”
Once criminal cases become active, the media in Britain are restricted in what they can report about the background to the case under laws designed to prevent juries from being influenced by material outside of the court hearing. On Monday the police issued a warning about those curbs.
“Media and the public are strongly reminded that this is an active case. Nothing should be published, including on social media, which could prejudice future court proceedings.”
Mr. Edwards was born in Bridgend in Wales in 1961 and worked for the BBC for four decades, ending his career there as one of its best paid performers with a salary of between £475,000 and £479,999 a year, or more than $600,000, according to the broadcaster’s latest annual report.
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