Campaigners lambast Huw Edwards as disgraced former BBC presenter uses new blog to explain his sex crimes

Huw Edwards was criticized by child abuse campaigners yesterday after he used his new blog to excuse his behaviour.

A disgraced former BBC presenter convicted of making indecent images of children has claimed a mental disorder had impaired his judgement.

However, his first post drew immediate backlash.

Emma Jane Taylor, founder of anti-sexual abuse charity Project 90-10, told The Mail on Sunday: ‘Why would anyone want to read the ‘poor me’ story of a registered sex offender? How about listening to the victims?

‘So why is he entitled to a platform? Remember, each of these images represents a real child being harmed.

‘Responsibility is important but so are the victims and what bothers me is that these images are not about the children being exploited but about Edwards, how they have been harmed, how it has affected their families.’

In 2024 Edwards admitted accessing 41 images of children, including seven of the most serious ones, and was given a six-month prison sentence, suspended for two years. Two of the images were of victims aged seven to nine.

On his Substack blog, Edwards says he ‘takes full responsibility for my reprehensible actions.’

Edwards launched his Substack on Wednesday, stating that he wants to make a “positive contribution” to “current events and cultural analysis, but also in the areas of mental health, overcoming trauma, and trying to rebuild some kind of worthwhile life.”

He adds: ‘Indecent images of children represent innocent victims. I am disgusted by such images and my sincere and profound apology to all those affected remains undiminished with time.’ Edwards, who presented News on Ten for decades, was one of the BBC’s highest-paid newsreaders but resigned in 2024 after admitting his guilt.

Insisting that he was offering an explanation and not an excuse, he said that although he had been open about his ‘struggle with persistent mental illness’, its severity was less well known.

‘It was managed for a long time,’ he says. ‘It wasn’t then. The downward spiral that followed led to a terrible outcome, and the wreckage of that outcome is something I live with every day.’ But he stressed that mental illness is not an excuse for committing a crime.

But child sex abuse survivor Miss Taylor said: ‘I know loads of people with mental health problems but none of them have ever done what he did.

‘It’s always about himself. What a big ego. He convinced an entire nation that he was something he wasn’t, and he’s still trying to do it now.

‘Go away, Huw, and use your energy to do something useful, like working with criminals to stop them from offending again.’

In his blog, Edwards emphasizes that ‘mental illness can never be an excuse for crime’.

Fflur Emlyn, from the Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre, said: ‘These images document real child abuse and many survivors live with the long-term effects of this abuse. . . We recognize that recent developments in this case, including the return to public platforms, may have an impact on survivors.

‘Support is available if anyone is affected.’