Rape victim, 43, reveals fury at Huw Edwards suspended sentence

A rape victim who was abused by her father from the age of three has slammed Huw Edwards, claiming he blamed his paedophilia on poor mental health.

The former BBC presenter was spared jail at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Monday after admitting accessing indecent images of children as young as seven.

The 63-year-old previously admitted three charges of 'making' indecent photos after he was sent 41 illegal images by a convicted paedophile over WhatsApp.

But Edwards only received a suspended sentence after the chief magistrate said his mental health at the time of the offences could have impaired his decision-making.

District judge Paul Goldspring handed Edwards a six-month prison sentence which he suspended for two years, and declined to make a sexual harm prevention order.

He also told Edwards he must attend 25 rehabilitation sessions and be placed on the sex offender treatment programme for 40 days. In addition, Edwards was told to pay £3,000 in prosecution costs and put on the sex offenders' register for seven years.

But today, MailOnline spoke to 43-year-old Ally, an alias for a rape victim who said she was disgusted by Edwards's sentence and mental health defence.

Ally, who tried to commit suicide more than ten times, said: 'There are millions of people who have mental health problems who never do that, they don't commit crimes, especially not looking at child abuse images.

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'It's not a part of depression. The children in these stories are forgotten. We talk about images but we're actually talking about people, they're children like me.

'I think that's often forgotten when it gets talked about in court and it's just seen as someone looking at a picture but it's actually a person who was once being abused.

'I really feel for the kids in these images who have been in this story, I hope they're safe.'

The judge in the Edwards case said medical evidence appeared to confirm that he had no memory of viewing any particular image because of his mental health at the time.

But Ally said Edwards blaming his actions on mental health issues 'undermines the pain of victims'.

She continued: 'He's got the suspended sentence - it means nothing really. He might say he's sorry have some rehab, but my dad had some rehab and went onto abuse me again so what evidence do we have that it even works for people.'

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On Monday, the court was taken through details of Edwards's mental health history, with reference made to one report by a consultant psychiatrist and neuropsychiatrist that recorded Edwards took two months of sick leave 'following an anonymous denunciation' in 2018.

The same psychiatrist concluded Edwards was at 'considerable risk of harm from others' and the risk of taking his own life was 'high and significant' if he was imprisoned.

Another medical report, by a forensic psychosexual therapist, said: 'The feelings of being desirable and unseen alongside Mr Edwards' unresolved sexual orientation created a perfect storm where he engaged in sexual infidelities and became vulnerable to people blackmailing him.'

As for Ally, she was five when her father was convicted of two counts of indecent assault against a six-year-old girl in January 1987, who was her best friend.

She said: 'When he was convicted of abusing my friend, I didn't say what he had done to me. My father started abusing me from as young as I can remember, aged three, maybe before.'

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In the year of the arrest, Ally underwent a physical examination, which showed she had a torn hymen - consistent with sexual abuse.

She was placed on the child protection register and made a ward of court.

Ally said: 'The family court said he was allowed some access to me through letter writing, so I never escaped from that. They said I had to write to him each month.

'It felt like he was still there like I couldn't speak openly, he had that hold over me.'

After four months in prison, Ally's father was released, and in 1991, he was granted visitation access. Within the year she was seeing him alone, aged 11.

She said: 'I would go to his house, and from about 12 years old he started buying me alcohol so he could do what he wanted really.'

Until the age of 16, when Ally left home, her father would rape her, fondle her and take pictures of her in his flat.

She said: 'He had loads of gear, and I recall seeing images on the screen.'

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In 2015, he was arrested for being in possession of images of child abuse, but not convicted

Aged 16, Ally moved to London to escape him but returned home a year later because of her own poor mental health.

She said: 'I tried more than ten times to kill myself, and I self-harmed. I was an alcoholic, and I was admitted to a psychiatric ward twice in 1998 when I was 17 and in 1999.'

She reported him to the police in 2017 and an 18-month police investigation took place, but no further action occurred.

Ally said: 'The police said they believed me but there was nothing they could do, I felt let down yet again by a system that is meant to protect me.'

Last year she was awarded £62,839 for loss of earnings due to mental health issues caused by abuse and repeated sexual abuse.

For confidential support, please call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch. See www.samaritans.org for details