Yahoo News Huw Edwards will not lose BAFTAs following arrest
Huw Edwards will not be stripped of major awards after pleading guilty to accessing child sex abuse images.
The broadcaster was charged last month over offences that are alleged to have taken place between December 2020 and April 2022 and pleaded guilty to the offences after appearing in court on July 31.
BAFTA, the Royal Television Society (RTS), and the Television and Radio Industries Club (TRIC) have since ruled out stripping the former BBC presenter of accolades he received from the esteemed organisations, Deadline reports.
It has been said the three organisations recognise the efforts of the production teams Edwards worked alongside, and not simply Edwards' presenting skills.
Related: Doctor Who episode featuring Huw Edwards pulled from BBC iPlayer
BAFTA is, however, reviewing seven individual prizes by the BAFTA Cymru Awards that Edwards received.
"Like everyone in the industry and country we were shocked by the news – given the seriousness of this abhorrent crime, we are reviewing," a BAFTA spokesperson told Digital Spy in relation to Edwards' individual BAFTA Cymru Presenter awards.
The BAFTA Cymru Presenter awards are peer-voted, and differ to the honorary Special Awards that Edwards has never received.
Digital Spy has also contacted representatives for TRIC and RTS for comment.
Edwards received the images in a WhatsApp chat, which began in December 2020, with an adult man. The unnamed man sent the BBC News presenter 377 sexual images in total, 41 of which were indecent images.
Seven of the 41 images are allegedly classed as Category A images. He is additionally accused of possessing 12 Category B pictures and 22 Category C images. He is also said to have possessed a category A film, sent in August 2021.
Related: BBC issues apology to family at centre of Huw Edwards scandal
The Metropolitan Police has clarified that the criminal allegations were separate from claims that were widely reported and later investigated last year that a BBC presenter had paid for sexually explicit photos of a young person.
Edwards’ wife Vicky Flind confirmed at the time that her husband was the presenter in question.
Edwards resigned from the BBC after 40 years in April, with a spokesperson saying the BBC is "shocked" by the allegations against its former employee.
They said: "The BBC is shocked to hear the details which have emerged in court today. There can be no place for such abhorrent behaviour and our thoughts are with all those affected."
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