Ex-BBC anchor Huw Edwards charged with making indecent images of children

July 29 (UPI) -- Huw Edwards, a 62-year-old former BBC television news anchor, has been charged with three counts of making indecent images of children.

London's Metropolitan Police said Monday that Edwards was arrested in November and charged on June 26 over offenses that allegedly took place between 2020 and 2022. They involve 37 images shared on a WhatsApp chat via a phone, including six Category A, the most serious classification of indecent images.

In July 2023, the BBC suspended Edwards over the allegations that he paid a teenager for sexually explicit photos. After taking a 10-month leave of absence, Edwards resigned from the BBC in April.

He is scheduled to appear in court in London on Wednesday.

Edwards faces up to 10 years in prison.

"Making indecent images can have a wide definition in the law and can include opening an email attachment containing such an image, downloading one from a website, or receiving one via social media, even if unsolicited and even if part of a group," according to the Crown Prosecution Service.

Edwards was one of the main presenters on BBC One's Ten O'Clock News from 2003 to 2023, and fronted coverage of major national events.

He announced the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022.

Edwards, joined the BBC as a news trainee in 1984.

In 2018, Edwards was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy degree