LONDON

Former BBC News presenter Huw Edwards has been given a suspended six-month jail sentence for child abuse image offenses on Monday.

Edwards, one of the UK's leading television news anchors, had pleaded guilty to three counts of "making" indecent images of children.

The 63-year-old presenter was arrested last November by Metropolitan Police.

During the hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London, Judge Paul Goldspring called his crimes "extremely serious offenses," but decided that Edwards did not present a risk or danger to children.

Edwards' "long-earned reputation is in tatters," said the judge.

Part of the sentence includes a sex offender treatment program and 25 rehabilitation sessions, with Edwards required to sign the sex offenders' register for seven years and pay £3,128 ($4,128) in costs and a victim surcharge.

The court heard that Edwards paid up to £1,500 (nearly $2,000) to Alex William, a convicted pedophile, who sent him dozens of illegal images over WhatsApp, seven of which were of the most serious type.

The offenses are alleged to have occurred from 2020 to 2022 and involve 41 images shared on a WhatsApp chat.

He was previously one of the main presenters on BBC One's Ten O'Clock News, as well as the BBC's most prominent and highest-paid news anchor.

Edwards also announced Queen Elizabeth's death to the nation in 2022 and has led coverage of major events, including elections and royal weddings.