Man at centre of Huw Edwards case says he felt ‘groomed’ by presenter

The person at the heart of the Huw Edwards allegations has said he felt “groomed” by the newsreader.

The man, who says he was paid for explicit images when he was a teenager, told the Daily Mirror he felt “sick” after learning the BBC presenter now faces a possible prison sentence after this week admitting accessing indecent photographs of children as young as seven.

The admission came nearly a year after Edwards was identified by his wife Vicky Flind as the unnamed senior broadcaster at the centre of allegations that a young person was paid for sexually explicit images. Edwards resigned from the BBC “on the basis of medical advice from his doctors”.

The man said he had stayed silent to protect the 62-year-old broadcaster, who he first met after contacting him and other celebrities for help, after becoming homeless.

“I feel like he sort of fed on my vulnerability,” said the young man, who admitted to sending explicit messages and videos to Edwards, who allegedly sent £35,000 in return over a two-year period.

“He knew I needed the money. I felt like I was being groomed,” he said. “I felt like he was taking advantage of me but I felt I had to listen to him because he was Huw Edwards.”

After the allegations, first reported by the Sun, surfaced last July, the young man insisted nothing illegal or inappropriate had taken place, and police concluded there was no criminal case.

Afterwards, the BBC launched an internal investigation set on “fact-finding” after reported claims that Edwards had made some young BBC staff feel uncomfortable over messaging apps.

Edwards admitted at Westminster magistrates court on Wednesday of having had 41 indecent images of children, which had been sent to him by another man on WhatsApp.

The disgraced presenter now also faces calls to return the salary he was paid by the BBC after being arrested.

On Friday, the BBC said Edwards had resigned “without notice or financial settlement” during a “confidential disciplinary process”.

The culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, has said it was wrong that Edwards received his salary – a sum of about £200,000 – between his arrest last November and his resignation in April.

It was revealed Edwards had remained the broadcaster’s third-highest paid presenter last year, receiving a £40,000 pay rise, as the BBC announced 500 redundancies.

After Edwards’ guilty pleas, a statement from the BBC said it had been made aware of the alleged offences and was “shocked to hear the details” that emerged in court.

Edwards will next appear in court on 16 September.