Huw Edwards case - the impact on family

Amen.

He received a Category A (penetrative assault) vide of a child aged between 7-9. Even after receiving that he continued to receive further images. There is no prospect he could have mistaken a child no older than 9 as being of the age of consent. Whatever messages he sent in an attempt to cover his back by pretending not to want anything illegal, he continued to engage with the man sending him images of very young children being raped.

Yes, he was actively seeking it out. He didn’t ‘accidentally’ receive an image. He was engaged in a WhatsApp conversation for months in which multiple images of the rape and sexual abuse of young children were exchanged.

There are some crimes that are unforgivable. I think you’re incredibly lucky that your wife hasn’t given you an ultimatum of cutting your parents out of your life or your marriage.

I sincerely hope your father doesn’t have access to your children?

I feel for his family
I believe people downloading these images should get prison sentences.

And thonk its a pity there are so many adult men allive now meaning it is more common.

He expressly told the other person multiple times not to send any underage photos and not to send him anything illegal.

I'm fully aware of the charges he plead guilty to. And yes that's what he said. But what did he do? Did he inform the police immediately that some guy was sending him child abuse images so the police could investigate or did he keep quiet?

I do feel desperately sorry for Huw Edward’s family, who have done nothing wrong and will be affected by this forever.

I’d release a statement saying the family have cut him off as we are horrified by his actions.

Keeping a relationship with a paedophile is furthering abuse, it needs to be 100% shunned in society.

If I had any indication at all that my FIL was sexually interested in children, I would break off contact. If my DH refused to, I would divorce him and do what I could to protect my children through legal process.

I get that abusers may have been abused themselves and may be perceived as living fine upstanding lives, apart from one slip up. However that slip up was probably fantasised about and acted out thousands of times in that person’s imagination. Likely they also had contact with practised abusers or accessed pornography which in itself is the product of criminal behaviour.

Sexual abuse of children is a crime is so awful that it breaks any relationship and those children involved will live with the consequences forever.

Also. Anyone who stands by a pedo instantly sets off alarms for me.
I'd believe you were one as well. So I'd paint you all with the same brush.

i agree with the OP. My father in law was convicted for paedophilia. My wife doesn't believe it was true. Thankfully he got 10 years in prison and is not allowed contact with children when he was released after five years, but I did have a solicitor ready and was prepared to leave my wife and take the children if she allowed her father access to them.

Oh and by the way there is a right and wrong way, your wife has picked the right one. Good for her.

If my FIL was a paedophile I would never see him again, and I would never allow my children to be anywhere near him.

I'd consider leaving my husband if he attempted to force any kind of relationship with him.

No words.

I can't believe how you talk about this. This is an example of your father's character, it's not out of character.

Don't fall for any rubbish about this bring a one off or a mistake. Your father is a pervert and your wife has the measure of him.

There is no happy family Christmas with a man like this, it's all pretence and lies.

Ha . He was chatting to a pedo for months

There is no greater test of your marriage than that

Didn’t test my marriage at all by the way. Given that neither of us are apologists for those involved in the sexual abuse of children, we were right on the same page.

Why did it test your marriage? Don’t you think your wife is making the right decision?

Love it when a man turns up to persuade us that another man’s abuse of children is oh so hard for him 🙄

Thank goodness your kids have one good parent.

Have people read the coverage from today that sets out what Huw Edwards actually did? The charge of "making images" always conjures up actually producing them, but it's a technical term linked to the images being on his phone. He was sent them by someone else, amongst other legal images of adults. He expressly told the other person multiple times not to send any underage photos and not to send him anything illegal. I'm not excusing what he did as some of the photos must have been obviously illegal material and he should have reported that once he saw them - but there isn't any suggestion that I've seen that he was actively seeking it out?

I would not trust someone that could carry out such crimes to be anywhere near my children. Your wife is right. Sorry your father has put you through this.

If my father in law was found guilty of what Huw Edward did he would never see my son again. I would also refuse to see him again.

I wouldn’t try to interfere with my husband maintaining a relationship with him as long as it was mutually agreed that there were no exceptions to the rule that he couldn’t be in contact with our son.

It may have been out of character of Huw Edward. It may have been a terrible, regretted decision. I don’t care. It doesn’t change the fact that children have faced unimaginable horror which will impact on their lives together. And if I knew someone in my life had done the same I wouldn’t take even the tiniest chance of my son being placed in harm’s way.

I do feel desperately sorry for Huw Edward’s family, who have done nothing wrong and will be affected by this forever.

I would keep my children far, far away from a family member who had done this. Doesn't matter one bit that they are family they have done a sickening and despicable thing that can never be forgiven. Totally on your wife's side and you should be ashamed of yourself.

My absolute priority always has and always would be my children.

The perpetrator of child abuse is an adult with mental capacity and would have chosen of their own free will to see abhorrent material or do disgusting abusive things to a child.

if that was either my in laws or any close family member they would NEVER see my family again and if DH did not accept that I would divorce him too.

i feel sorry for the child victims, who have been abused and had their choices taken away. I feel nothing, but absolutely sickening disgust and condemnation for Hue Edwards and his ilk.

If that meant no contact with the in-laws then that's tough luck. They would have known the risks of doing what they did would jeopardise their relationship forever with any grandchildren.

Thankfully, this a hypothetical situation, but I 100 % agree with your partner go never have contact with your parent's again, quite right !

Having worked with people who have been featured in images like this (therapist), that predators like your father hoard and masturbate/fantasize to, relishing their greatest trauma for their sexual gratification, I quite literally could not give a fuck about the ethical dilema their families face. I have all the sympathy in the world for people who cut them out and the shock and fall out of that and have helped those people. People like you? Not so much.

The societal minimization of images offenses is a real problem. People like your father are just as bad as people who abuse children in real life. Imagine if your child was abused on tape or pictures were taken and they were shared and shared and shared, them being humiliated and victimized over and over and over again by pedophiles like your father. Imagine them in an office like mine week after week sobbing and screaming about those pictures being out there. Self harming. Not functioning. Their life in ruins. I think you'd find "cancelling" the pedophiles who did that to them pretty easy. But not your child not your problem right? 🙄

Give your head a wobble.

your dad viewed and contributed to the abuse of innocent children.

anyone still in contact with him is excusing and minimising his disgusting perverted behaviour.

shame on you just as much as him.

I'm not sure it's your family's place to forgive either

I think this is fair. Your father made a choice ; Huw Edward made a choice.
The victims did not have any choice. Thats the thing about abuse.

If I met your wife , I would shake her hand.

So I do feel for the families who discover there is a paedophile in their midst, but I would have zero sympathy for the offender.

Spot on.

Anyone who appeases and makes excuses for paedophiles is equally as guilty, and that includes family.

Vile.