The former chairwoman of the BBC thanked disgraced newsreader Huw Edwards for his “huge contribution” despite knowing he had been arrested in November 2023.
Dame Elan Closs Stephens left the role in March 2024, shortly before Edwards resigned during a confidential disciplinary process.
Earlier this week Edwards admitted making indecent photographs, with seven of the 41 images being of the most serious type.
It came after a year of headlines about Edwards, which started when he was named as the presenter at the centre of a scandal over payments to a young person for sexually explicit images.
On July 2, Dame Elan said on Welsh-language radio programme Beti a’i Phobol she was “proud to thank him (Edwards) personally for all his huge contribution and all the skills he has demonstrated that will help those who will succeed him”.
She also referred to him as “poor Huw”, according to BBC Wales.
In a statement to BBC-produced Welsh language news programme Newyddion S4C, Dame Elan confirmed she was aware of the arrest while she was interim chair of the BBC, but said she was not aware of the “terrible details which have come to light this week” after Edwards admitted three charges of making indecent photographs of children.
It comes after the corporation’s director-general Tim Davie defended his decision not to sack Edwards, despite knowing he had been arrested in November.
He said that BBC managers “knew it was serious” but had “no specifics, apart from the category of the potential offences”.
Discussing the initial allegations made by The Sun newspaper about Edwards’ personal life, published in July 2023 and prior to the criminal charges later brought against him, Dame Elan said: “It was a sad story, and it was obvious The Sun newspaper was going to make the most of the occasion because poor Huw was so well-known.
“Of course, the Queen’s death and funeral and the coronation had happened within a few months.
“The first thing of course was ensuring Huw was alright and that the family received care and protection.
“More than that, they have obviously come to an agreement after my time (as BBC chair) has ended so that matter is a private one.”
Newyddion S4C subsequently asked whether she stood by her comments on the Beti a’i Phobol programme following Edwards’ guilty plea this week.
In her written statement, she did not address that point directly.
Dame Elan said revelations from the court had come as a shock to her and that she was “horrified by it all”.
She added her “thoughts are with the children whose images are central to this story”.
Newyddion S4C also asked the BBC whether Dame Elan was informed of Edwards’ arrest last November and the nature of the investigation, but BBC Wales said it is yet to receive a response.
Before Edwards resigned on medical advice in April, he was the broadcaster’s highest-paid newsreader, with a pay bracket between £475,000 and £479,999 for the year 2023/24, according to the BBC’s latest annual report.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has asked the BBC to look into whether it can recoup an estimated £200,000, which Edwards earned in the period from his arrest in November until his resignation five months later.
Following his guilty plea a mural of Edwards in his home town of Llangennech, Carmarthenshire, was painted over by artist Steve Jenkins, who described it as “such a bitter pill to swallow”.
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