Are you going to something for me then?

Man speaks out for first time | He says star 'took advantage' | 'I trusted him and felt he cared'

- TOM BRYANT & ADAM ASPINALL

THE young man who sent explicit pictures of himself to Huw Edwards says the BBC newsreader manipulated him.

He added he was homeless at the time and that the famous broadcaster sent him money, before beginning to ask if there was anything the man would do for him in return.

Speaking for the first time about the scandal, the man told the Mirror: "I want to tell the truth about what happened.

"I've stayed silent for so long to protect Huw, but I feel sick at what's gone on The man, who wishes to remain anonymous, says he feels like Edwards, 62, "groomed" him.

The scandal erupted last summer when it emerged the man's mum and stepdad had claimed that Edwards paid £35,000 in return for "sordid" pictures of himself.

Edwards was not named publicly at first, but within days his identity was revealed by his wife, TV producer Vicky Flind.

Edwards was also admitted to hospital over serious mental health concerns. The man who had sent him the images defended Edwards at the time. But he later began to feel he had in fact been a victim.

Those feelings crystallised when he received a call this week from police telling him in advance about the charges against Edwards over indecent images of children.

The man, who is 21 but who was a vulnerable teenager when Edwards first asked him for explicit photos and messages, says it is now time to tell his story.

He says he was in a very troubled state when he first contacted the TV news anchor.

Having fallen out with his mother and stepfather, he was sleeping on friends' sofas and had spent a few nights at a homeless shelter, which he described as "scary". He began sending direct messages via social media to famous people to ask if they could help him.

He was in a burger bar in Cardiff when he happened to see Edwards on the TV, so decided to message him. Edwards was the only person to reply to any of the messages.