Huw Edwards Case: Alleged Victim Claims He Felt “Groomed” by Presenter
In a developing story, the individual at the centre of the Huw Edwards case has publicly shared feelings of being “groomed” by the prominent BBC newsreader. The man, who was a teenager at the time, admitted to sending explicit messages and videos to Edwards. He claims he felt taken “advantage of” by the presenter.
In an interview with the Daily Mirror, the man expressed his distress upon learning that Edwards now faces a potential prison sentence after admitting to accessing indecent photographs of children as young as seven. The admission came nearly a year after Edwards was publicly identified by his wife, Vicky Flind, as the unnamed senior broadcaster embroiled in allegations involving payments for sexually explicit images.
Following the revelations, Edwards resigned from the BBC based on “medical advice from his doctors.” The man, who has since become homeless, revealed that he had remained silent to protect the 62-year-old broadcaster, whom he had initially approached for help. “I feel like he sort of fed on my vulnerability,” said the young man. He claimed Edwards sent £35,000 in return for the explicit content over two years. “He knew I needed the money. I felt like I was being groomed,” he added.
After the allegations surfaced in July 2023, the young man initially insisted that nothing illegal or inappropriate had occurred. Police later concluded there was no criminal case. The BBC subsequently launched an internal investigation focused on “fact-finding” following claims that Edwards had made some young BBC staff uncomfortable through messaging apps.
In court on Wednesday, Edwards admitted to possessing 41 indecent images of children, which had been sent to him via WhatsApp by another man. The scandal has led to calls for Edwards to return the salary he received from the BBC after his arrest.
On Friday, the BBC announced that Edwards had resigned “without notice or financial settlement” during a “confidential disciplinary process.” Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy criticized the situation, noting that it was wrong for Edwards to have received his salary—around £200,000—between his arrest in November and his resignation in April, especially as the BBC faced financial difficulties and announced 500 redundancies.
Following Edwards’ guilty pleas, the BBC stated it was “shocked to hear the details” that emerged in court. Edwards is scheduled to appear in court again on September 16.
The young man, at the age of 21, has come forward following Huw Edwards’ confession of producing inappropriate pictures of minors.
