BBC’s handling of Huw Edwards crisis needs to come under the most rigorous scrutiny
BBC must face close scrutiny
WHEN The Sun first revealed how Huw Edwards had paid £35,000 to a vulnerable teenager who sent him sexual pictures, we were met with a firestorm of abuse from the liberal establishment.
In particular, they seized with unbridled glee on a statement issued by the young man, which said the claims he was being exploited by Edwards were “rubbish”.
The BBC hadn’t spoken to the young man himself. In fact they didn’t even know his name. They simply read out the statement on air, breathlessly, as if it was fact.
Now, in the wake of Edwards’ conviction for having vile paedophile images, including video of a boy aged as young as seven, the young man has decided to set the record straight.
In an interview he has revealed he had lied to protect Edwards, who was still sending him money even AFTER our revelations.
He felt groomed by Edwards, who used his power and position of authority to get what he wanted.
The young man, who has substance misuse issues, carries no blame for his initial denials.
He was being manipulated by a skilled and devious groomer, who — as The Sun revealed — was doing the same to a number of other young men.
That is why this story is first and foremost about the victims.
The young man’s family brought the story to us in desperation after the BBC failed them.
Like many others dragged into Edwards’ evil orbit they have suffered nothing but torment. For that very reason the BBC and the police still have important questions to answer.
The corporation paid Edwards £200,000 even after it knew he had been arrested for the most serious category of child abuse images.
The police kept the fact that he had been charged secret for a month.
The delay allowed the BBC to announce its annual report detailing Edwards’ £40,000 pay rise.
Was there collusion with the police?
Why did the BBC’s former chair, Dame Elan Closs Stephens, publicly thank Edwards when she knew he had been arrested?
And why were viewers told that nobody at BBC News was aware of the arrest, when its most senior boss had already been informed?
We never doubted the public interest in giving voice to the story of the young man’s parents and in exposing this sexual predator.
Now millions of licence fee payers rightly want to recoup the money the BBC paid to Edwards since his arrest.
The public are outraged at the conduct of our national broadcaster.
Its handling of this crisis needs to come under the most rigorous scrutiny.