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13th July 2023
12:49pm BST
The BBC was already under fire for its handling of the "explicit pictures" accusations, and then it went and bungled the announcement that the presenter involved, Huw Edwards, had resigned.
Sophie Raworth mistakenly said that Edwards had quit after announcing that her colleague had been named by his wife, Vicky Flind, as the high-profile presenter accused of paying a young person £35,000 for images.
Edwards was suspended Sunday, some seven weeks after the accusations were first made to the broadcaster - on May 19 - by the youngster's family.
He has not resigned and the Met Police on Wednesday concluded he does not have a criminal case to answer.
Raworth subsequently corrected her report, confirming Edwards had not stepped down.
On Wednesday evening, Flind released a statement on her husband's behalf and revealed he was receiving in-patient hospital care and “suffering from serious mental health issues" and would be there for the "foreseeable future".
Fresh allegations against Edwards have since been made by three BBC employees, who claim the 61-year-old had sent them messages that made them feel uncomfortable.
Newsnight reported that the messages were suggestive and flirtatious, with Edwards allegedly making reference to their appearance.
One of the staff members told the programme: "There is a power dynamic that makes this inappropriate.”
Another added that the father-of-five had sent them messages on social media before giving them the "cold shoulder", and a third person, who never actually met Edwards, claimed they would receive late-night messages from him, which were signed off with kisses.
They claimed that they felt it was an abuse of power.
The BBC has responded to the new claims, with a spokesperson saying: "We are communicating with staff and will continue to do so. We always treat the concerns of staff with care, and would always urge any staff members to speak to us if they have any concerns.
"We have clear processes for making complaints within the organisation, including whistleblowing procedures should someone wish to do so anonymously."
In her statement, Flind said it had been an "extremely difficult days for our family” since The Sun newspaper reported on Saturday that a high-profile BBC presenter had paid been paying a young person for explicit images. The newspaper's original report said the then-unnamed presenter had been paying for pictures since the youngster was 17, which is a criminal offence. The youngster involved later rubbished the claims made by his family. They have stood by them.
She said she was speaking out, “primarily out of concern for his mental well-being and to protect our children.”
Her statement continued: “Huw is suffering from serious mental health issues. As is well documented, he has been treated for severe depression in recent years.
“The events of the last few days have greatly worsened matters, he has suffered another serious episode and is now receiving in-patient hospital care where he’ll stay for the foreseeable future.
“Once well enough to do so, he intends to respond to the stories that have been published.”
Vicky said, “to be clear” Huw was only told of the allegations against him last Thursday.
“In the circumstances and given Huw’s condition I would like to ask that the privacy of my family and everyone else caught up in these upsetting events is respected.
“I know that Huw is deeply sorry that so many colleagues have been impacted by the recent media speculation. We hope this statement will bring that to an end.”
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