Man believed to be from Carmarthenshire claims meeting followed years of online contact and payments for sexual images
A MAN believed to be from Carmarthenshire who was paid tens of thousands of pounds for sexual images by former BBC newsreader Huw Edwards has claimed the pair did meet in person and spent a night together at a Cardiff hotel.
The man, now aged 22, said he stayed overnight with the disgraced broadcaster at the Marriott Hotel in Cardiff after Edwards allegedly threatened to stop sending him money.
The claims were made in an interview published by The Sun.
According to the report, Edwards had already paid the then-teenager at least £35,000 in exchange for sexual images before the meeting took place.
The man said the pair had been communicating online for around two years before they finally met.
He told the newspaper that he had been relying on the payments and felt pressured to meet Edwards.
“He said if I didn’t come he wouldn’t help me any more,” the man said.
Recalling the meeting, he said Edwards was waiting outside the hotel when he arrived.
The man said he felt extremely nervous when the pair went up to the room and struggled to speak.
He claimed Edwards tried to place a hand on his shoulder but he froze and said he eventually lay on the bed and pretended to sleep.
According to the account, Edwards left the following morning.
Both Edwards and the man involved are reported to have links to Carmarthenshire, although the individual has never been publicly identified.
The allegations come amid wider revelations about Edwards’ criminal case.
In September 2024, the former BBC presenter admitted three offences relating to indecent images of children and was handed a six-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.
He was also placed on the sex offenders’ register for seven years.
Court proceedings previously heard that Edwards had been sent dozens of illegal images by a 41-year-old man named Alex Williams.
The images included some of the most serious category of abuse material involving young children.
It has since been reported that Williams helped connect Edwards with the teenager through a dating app.
According to the interview, the man was first contacted by Williams in 2020 when he was 17.
He later began communicating directly with Edwards, who allegedly sent him £500 within minutes of their first conversation before moving the discussion to WhatsApp.
Over the following three years Edwards is said to have paid him tens of thousands of pounds while requesting explicit material during video calls.
The claims add further detail to the scandal that brought down one of Britain’s most recognisable television news presenters, who for many years fronted the BBC’s flagship news bulletins before leaving the corporation following the investigation and subsequent criminal case.
