A BBC News Presenter Huw Edwards who is allegedly accused of paying for sexually explicit photos faces four allegations against him. Edwards presented the BBC's flagship programme "News at 10" and was the fourth-highest-paid presenter, earning £435,000 a year.
The now suspended BBC presenter allegedly sent "inappropriate messages" to colleagues on social media, according to BBC Newsnight. The former employee said they had never met the presenter but received messages from him on social media, “some late at night and signed off with kisses”, which they said they believed was an “abuse of power”.
Allegations against BBC News Presenter
The first few allegations that were reported, accused an unnamed news presenter of paying a 17 year-old around £35,000 for sexually explicit images. The BBC star allegedly appeared in his underwear in a video call. The Sun reported that the male presenter called the young person twice after the allegations became public and reportedly told them in panic “what have you done” and demanded that their mother stop the investigation.
Another person in their early 20s – who BBC said is not connected to the person in the first report by The Sun – allegedly received threatening messages from the presenter, after they met on a dating app. The BBC says it has seen the "threatening messages" and confirmed that it came from a phone number belonging to the unnamed man.
In another set of allegations, a 17-year-old claimed they were following the star on Instagram when he messaged them, using love hearts and kisses, reported The Sun on Tuesday.
Separately, a 23-year-old person has claimed the BBC presenter broke lockdown rules to meet them during the pandemic in February 2021, according to The Sun on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the London Police said that there's no evidence that the BBC presenter who allegedly paid a teenager for sexually explicit photos committed a crime. The parents of the teenager reportedly told The Sun newspaper last week that the presenter had been allowed to remain on air after the mother complained to the BBC in May that he paid the youth 35,000 pounds ($45,000) starting in 2020 when the person was 17. The BBC confirmed in a statement that it had "first became aware of a complaint in May".
However, a lawyer representing the young person in question, who was not named, told the BBC earlier this week that “nothing inappropriate or unlawful has taken place between our client and the BBC personality.” The lawyer said the allegations reported in The Sun were “rubbish,” AP reported. The BBC said it would continue its investigation into the matter.
