Huw Edwards Charged With Indecent Images

Nearly a year since the Sun ran a front-page story saying a BBC presenter had paid thousands of pounds to a 17-year-old with a drug dependency in exchange for explicit pictures, The Sun revealed that Edwards had been charged with indecent images.

Following vigiliant and dogged communication with questions to the Met Police for months over an arrest, Mike Hamilton finally confirmed the charge with the CPS.

Previously their queries had met with obfuscation, but on July 29th we put in calls to the Met and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for a statement and within one hour we prepared to break the story online.

The Sun’s previous reporting, over 18 months investigating and unravelling the shocking life which Huw Edwards led online, showed a pattern of behaviour that should have been clear for the BBC and investigators to see.

Our forensic probe into Edwards’ activities began in 2023 after calls to the newsdesk alledging “predatory” online behaviour, before being contacted by a man who revealed Edwards had been sending his teenage stepson money in exchange for sexual images. They provided documentary evidence and we conducted interviews with many of the primary witnesses.

The family also revealed they had revealed their concerns in a detailed complaint to the BBC a month earlier but heard nothing back - a huge failure of the public service broadcaster.

This story was the subject of significant scrutiny pre-publication, and always aware how deeply sensitive the issue was, the editors made the decision to keep back information which may lead to the family being found.

In itself, maintaining this anonymity made the amount of evidence which could be published more challenging.

Once published, we received dozens more calls about his behaviour, including abuses of power and position, and harassment towards BBC colleagues.

Huw Edwards was eventually named by his wife, who said the presenter was suffering from mental health issues. This led to The Sun halting all reporting - but standing firmly by the story.

During its fearless and meticulous reporting, The Sun had amassed a dossier which was handed over to the BBC to investigate, including payments by Edwards to people who sent him sexual images. This resulted in a BBC apology to the parents whose complaint they ignored; the resignation of Edwards following an internal probe; and the issuing of new staff guidelines by the BBC. The young person at the centre of our original story confirmed the accuracy of our reporting - saying he had been "groomed" by Edwards.

The Sun's work continued up to Monday, July 29, with the scoop that Edwards had been charged with indecent images.

We followed the scoop with interviews with the parents of the original complaint and more revelations about Edwards' time pressurising a young BBC staff members and the grooming of young people over social media. The public interest in our reporting was and is overwhelming. We established a pattern of behaviour by Edwards - ultimately culminating in news of his shock charge, and downfall.