Mr Davie was aware of arrest. It was as if the BBC turned a blind eye

HUW EDWARDS SEX PICS: TEEN ON DEMAND FOR TV CHIEF TO RESIGN

- TOM BRYANT and ADAM ASPINALL

THE young man who was paid for sex pictures by Huw Edwards has called on the BBC’s boss to quit.

He hit out after it emerged Tim Davie was told of his top newsreader’s arrest in November – but didn’t sack him.

During the five months until his resignation in April, the disgraced anchorman was paid £200,000.

“It’s absolutely unbelievable that he remained on the payroll, how does that even happen?” the man said.

“It feels like the BBC are trying to protect Edwards.

“Mr Davie needs to quit.” It has also been revealed that Edwards received a £40,000 rise last year, boosting his salary to £475,000, and keeps his £300,000-a-year pension.

The man, now 21, said: “This can’t be allowed to happen again. Mr Davie was aware of the arrest yet I feel it was almost as if the BBC turned a blind eye.

SPELL

“Edwards doesn’t have any right to have it, even the £40,000 pay rise. There should have been a halt to his money after the suspension at least.”

The man’s relationship with the Welsh presenter led to his suspension in July. And last week, after a separate police investigation, he pleaded guilty to having child abuse images.

Yesterday the Mirror told how the BBC veteran first asked the young person for explicit photos and messages when he was a homeless and vulnerable teenager.

Having fallen out with his mother and stepfather, he was sleeping on friends’ sofas and in a homeless shelter when he decided to ask celebrities via social media if they could help.

He messaged Edwards when he saw his face on TV in a Cardiff burger bar.

Edwards, the only person to reply to his messages, deposited £500 into his PayPal account, although the teenager had not asked for money. Over the next two years, the newsman spent up to £35,000 in return for photos, with the young person’s PayPal account showing dozens of transactions.