Huw Edwards, the BBC’s former top news presenter, pleaded guilty Wednesday to three counts of making indecent images of children.

The offences he pleaded guilty to at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in central London during a 26-minute hearing involved images shared on WhatsApp between December 2020 and August 2021.

Edwards has been remanded on bail until a sentencing hearing on Sept. 16. He could face up to 10 years in prison.

The court heard that Edwards, 62, was involved in an online chat with an adult man on the messaging service who sent him 377 sexual images, of which 41 were indecent images of children.

  • pelletbucket@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    3
    ·
    4 months ago

    what does “making” mean? how do you make those images without committing other crimes at the same time

    • sandbox@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      21
      ·
      4 months ago

      In the UK, if you download an image, or you receive it into any kind of electronic device, it’s considered to be “making” it, because you’re creating a copy of it (digitally).

      It’s an outdated law written for like, you know, someone developing film to distribute photographs, I suppose? But it has followed us into the digital age and no longer makes much sense.

      He didn’t take any of the photos himself, he didn’t print them out or distribute them or anything. He just received them on his phone.

    • Kit@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      4 months ago

      I’m confused by that as well. Someone sent him the images and he asked the person to not send any more photos of underage children, but they did.

      • Danquebec@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        4 months ago

        I wonder if it was something they agreed to do in another communication channel, in the hope of protecting Huw.

        Like “ask me on Whatsapp wether I want underage nudes, I’ll say no, and when you send others, I’ll have this as a defence if I get caught”

    • zebbedi@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      edit-2
      4 months ago

      It seems like the story updated over time. Originally the bbc said making and then the article content updated to say received. Maybe they jumped the gun, I don’t know.

      If it was received, doesn’t excuse the fact a person in his station should have reported it to the highest level. Who the fuck uses WhatsApp to view porn? Definitely sounds dodgy.