Former BBC presenter Huw Edwards has pleaded guilty to three charges of making indecent images of children.
The 62-year-old admitted the offences when he appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Wednesday. The court was told he had communicated online with a man who had sent him 377 sexual images, 41 of which were indecent images of children. The veteran broadcaster had an indecent image on his phone of a child as young as seven, the court was told.
The offence Edwards committed is called 'making indecent images of children', but what exactly this entails can be misinterpreted due to the wording.
That does not mean that Mr Edwards had the photos taken, nor does it mean that he used artificial intelligence software to artificially produce them.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) acknowledges that the offence has been interpreted in different ways over the years.
Online guidance from the CPS states: “Creating offensive images can have a broad definition in law and can include opening an email attachment containing such an image, downloading an image from a website or receiving an image via social media, even if this is unsolicited and even if you are part of a group.”
Defending Edwards, barrister Philip Evans KC said: “There is no indication in this case that Mr Edwards… in the traditional sense of the word, created any image of any kind.”
“It's also important to remember for context that the devices, Mr. Edwards' devices, were seized and searched, and there is nothing in those devices.”
“These are only the images that are the subject of the charges that came via a WhatsApp chat. Mr Edwards did not keep any images, did not send any to anyone else and did not and has never searched for similar images elsewhere.”
There are also three different categories of indecent images, as set out by the Sentencing Council. Category A is the most serious and includes images that contain penetrative sexual activity, sexual activity with animals or sadism.
Category B images contain non-invasive sexual acts, while Category C images are offensive but do not qualify for Category A or B.
The offensive images sent to Mr Edwards consisted of seven category A images, twelve category B images and 22 category C images.
Edwards is due back in court on September 16 to hear his sentence, and could face jail time for these offences.
