The parents of the paedophile who sent indecent images of children to Huw Edwards have denied any knowledge of their son being a sex offender.
Alex Williams, 25, had been speaking with Edwards, 62, and sending him sick images over WhatsApp, before passing on the evidence to Scotland Yard.
Williams’ mother Lynne Mason claimed to be unaware that her son was convicted of child pornography offences at Merthyr Crown Court earlier this year.
Ms Mason and Williams’ father Gerwyn Vaughan said they had not seen Williams for three or four months – despite neighbours claiming they spotted him in the street within the last few days.
The sex offender’s mother also claimed she knows of no connection between her son and the disgraced BBC anchorman.
Edwards on Wednesday pleaded guilty to receiving 41 indecent images of children, which included two sexual videos of a boy under nine.
His offending came to light by chance after police in South Wales found his number on Williams’ phone.
Huw Edwards today pleaded guilty to receiving 41 indecent images of children, which included two sexual videos of a boy under nine (Edwards is seen leaving court today)
Edwards’ offending came to light by chance after police in South Wales found his number on Williams’ phone
Detectives discovered last November that Williams had been speaking with Edwards and sending him indecent images over WhatsApp, passing on the evidence to Scotland Yard.
The investigation was unrelated to allegations reported in July 2023 that Edwards had paid a teenager more than £35,000 for sexual images.
Williams sent Edwards 377 images, 41 of which were indecent and formed the charges to which the veteran broadcaster pleaded guilty on Wednesday. Two images involved a child believed to be as young as seven, Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard.
Edwards, 62, received and opened seven category A – the most indecent – images, 12 category B and 22 category C photos between December 2020 and August 2021, prosecutors said.
Williams, of Merthyr Tydfil, was given a 12-month jail term suspended for two years in March after pleading guilty to seven offences relating to possessing and distributing indecent images.
Edwards is also unlikely to face prison after pleading guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children, experts said last night.
‘Although the conduct in the case amounts to no more than just opening the images, it is essentially treated as a form of possession,’ Ian Hope, prosecuting, told the court on Wednesday. ‘There’s no suggestion that Mr Edwards had anything to do with making the images or did anything beyond opening that image.’
Mr Hope said that a suspended sentence might be considered, despite the fact that guidelines state the starting point for a jail term for possession of a category A image is 12 months. Category A images are classified as involving the depiction of ‘penetrative sexual activity; possession of images involving sexual activity with an animal or sadism’.
Mitigating factors are Edwards’ early guilty plea, his previous good character, mental health issues and what Mr Hope said was ‘genuine remorse’.
Welsh police uncovered the broadcaster crimes during a separate probe into a sex offender in Wales. Edwards is pictured in court on Wednesday
Edwards, of Wandsworth in south-west London, wore a dark blue suit with a blue tie in the dock
Philip Evans KC, defending Edwards, said: ‘It is important to remember for context that, as you would expect, the devices were seized and searched and there’s nothing on those devices.
‘He didn’t keep any images. He didn’t send any to anyone else and hasn’t sought images from anywhere else. Before this, Mr Edwards was not only of good character but of exemplary character.’
Director at criminal defence firm Olliers Solicitors, Ruth Peters, said that while a jail term was an option open to chief magistrate Paul Goldspring during Edwards’ sentencing hearing on September 16, a suspended sentence or community order was more likely.
The former Ten O’Clock News presenter will be added to the sex offenders’ register automatically.
Edwards, of Wandsworth in south-west London, wore a dark blue suit with a blue tie in the dock after passing through a scrum of photographers, journalists and protesters to get into the court.
During the 26-minute hearing, he spoke only to confirm his name, date of birth, his street name and postcode, before entering three guilty pleas. Releasing Edwards on bail until September 16, Mr Goldspring said his sentencing powers might be limited and he could still transfer the case to the Crown Court for a stiffer punishment.