THE mum of a teen sent vile messages by Huw Edwards has hit out at the disgraced BBC host in an open letter.
She tells him he caused “immense pain and suffering” to her and her son in the pursuit of his “sick pleasure”.
Edwards, 62, is due to be sentenced today over indecent images of children as young as seven found on his mobile phone.
Seven of the 41 he admitted to receiving were in Category A — the most serious classification.
The mother of the young man who Edwards paid tens of thousands of pounds to in return for sexually explicit pictures says the former news anchor should be locked up.
She writes: “Edwards has exploited very young children for his own sick ends and in my mind should go to prison.
“It breaks my heart as a mother to know that the man who groomed and controlled my son also shared the worst kind of child abuse picture.
“No paedophile who enjoys pictures of young kids should be free on the street.”
Edwards is facing a possible jail sentence when he appears in court today and could spend the rest of his life on the sex offenders register.
The anguished mum of Huw Edwards’ young victim has told the shamed BBC star: “All we cared about was stopping you.”
She poured her heart out in an open letter after she exposed the shamed News at Ten presenter for sending her teenage son tens of thousands of pounds in return for sexually explicit pictures.
Edwards is due to be sentenced today after admitting having 41 indecent images of children on his phone — seven in the most serious Category A — including a video of a boy aged seven to nine.
The mum has today revealed the years of suffering inflicted on her family by Edwards’ twisted and controlling behaviour.
She says she is writing to “give a voice” to the mothers of all his young victims.
The mum wrote her open letter ahead of his sentencing as part of a new Sun YouTube documentary about the scandal, entitled Huw Edwards: Unmasked, which will be released in the coming days.
She writes: “I am today writing this open letter to make you understand the immense pain and suffering you have caused me, my son, my family, your own family — and to all your victims over the years.
“In doing so I hope I am giving a voice to the mothers of the poor children who were abused for your twisted gratification.
“Those very young children who were robbed of their innocence forever for your sick pleasure.”
Since blowing the whistle on Edwards, the mum has suffered months of abuse in the street and also online from people who have called her a liar.
But Edwards’ sentencing today will bring her vindication at last.
In her letter, she writes: “You will receive your punishment in court.
“I won’t be able to tell that court the full details of what you did to my family. But in writing this letter I hope to take back the power and control which you so cruelly stole.
“My son was a normal, happy teenager before you wormed your way into his life.”
The mum tells how her son spiralled into drink and drugs, with the money sent to him by Edwards from the age of 17 fuelling his addiction.
She writes: “You sent him down a dark path. He started having problems with drink and drugs. You knew that but kept pestering him for pictures.
“You sent him more money, knowing that he was likely to spend it on his addiction.”
Now Edwards has been exposed, the mum is desperate to repair her damaged relationship with her son.
She writes: “I want you to know that while there were times when you came close, you never wholly destroyed me.
“I will not let you destroy us. All we care about is that we stopped your predatory grooming and saved our boy.”
The family have suffered more than a year of agony since blowing the whistle on Edwards’ behaviour last July.
Their initial complaints to the BBC were ignored, with the family then contacting The Sun in a bid to have their concerns listened to.
We did not initially name the “Top BBC Star” in the sex pictures probe, but Edwards’ identity was later revealed by his wife.
BBC staff's horror
By Michael Hamilton, Chief Reporter
BBC staff and management felt “sick” over the Huw Edwards scandal, a senior reporter there revealed.
Katie Razzall, the Beeb’s Culture and Media Editor, said his former colleagues were rocked by news he had hoarded abuse images of kids as young as seven.
Talking about the charges, first revealed by The Sun on July 29, she said: “Discovering that the presenter was guilty of such horrendous crimes rocked people in the newsroom to their core. One BBC staffer speaks of ‘feeling sick’.
“Another describes it as ‘a bombshell’.”
Razzall has reported on the scandal since The Sun told in July 2023 of claims that a presenter had paid a teenager for sexual images.
The BBC launched a probe and Edwards, 63, who had worked there 40 years, finally quit in April.
Razzall said of the initial claims: “It was a testing story for me and my colleagues to cover.”
She added: “Even so, nobody was prepared for what was to come.”
Our stories eventually led to an apology from BBC senior executives in April this year, following an internal investigation.
But the family remain furious BBC Director-General Tim Davie allowed Edwards to resign, despite knowing cops were investigating him over serious child sex charges.
Their son gave a newspaper interview last month admitting he sent explicit pictures to Edwards and said he was “groomed”.
He said: “I felt like he was taking advantage of me but I felt I had to listen to him because he was Huw Edwards.”
You sent him down a dark path. He started having problems with drink and drugs. You knew that but kept pestering him for pictures
Victims' mum
The shamed star was allowed to resign by the BBC in April on a full £300,000 pension.
BBC bosses are now trying to claw back some £200,000 paid in salary to the presenter after he was secretly arrested for having indecent images of children on his phone sent to him by a convicted paedophile.
In July, Edwards pleaded guilty to having those photos, including sexual videos of a boy aged between seven and nine.
Westminster magistrates court heard he also had photos of other children aged between 13 and 15 stored on his phone, which were classed as Category A.
You sent him more money, knowing that he was likely to spend it on his addiction
Victims' mum
They were sent to him by convicted paedophile Alex Williams, from Merthyr Tydfil, who was handed a 12-month suspended jail sentence in March.
Messages showed Williams told the newsreader the child was “quite young looking” and he had more images that were illegal.
Edwards told him not to send any illegal images and no more were sent, the court heard.
The pair continued to exchange legal sexual images until April 2022.
Edwards is likely to spend decades on the sex offenders register — possibly the rest of his life.
