“admits to”

I'm a native American English speaker (from the midwest) and I have always used "admits to" or "admitted to". To me it sounds very strange, almost incorrect, not to use the "to".

a British perspective: at the BBC (and other media seem to have similar results)

admitted the charge - 140, to the charge - 3
admitted the charges - 120, to the charges - 3
admitted the offence - 150, to the offence 9

On the other hand, this is from the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service)
"After the offender has admitted to the offence ..."

Oxford Dictionaries allow both. Personally I think the to-less version sounds a bit more formal / official, and like PiteTeach I would probably be more comfortable using 'to' - "He admitted all the charges" sounds a bit strange to me. But then I've always thought redundancy overrated; I leave that sort of stuff to Perfect Pedant - now I wonder whatever happened to him? :)

"Confess/confessed to" I can understand but unfortunately I can't quite swallow "admit/admitted to".

Perfect Pedant was in fact an acquaintance of mine. He unfortunately passed on last year.

@HS Up at the pearly gates St M checks your latest tax return, takes away your credit cards and passes you on to St P, who checks your grammar, so PP should be okay; unless of course St P has gone fishing.

Only then is one admitted TO heaven.

@Jayles

PP was an atheist, so I don't think he'd be too worried about Saint Peter.

@HS Friends and family live on as long as we remember them. And in their children.
Sometimes I play "Stranger on the Shore" in rememberance of a long-ago friend who played clarinet: at the going-down of the sun, lest we forget.

Possibly: 'he admitted the charge' but 'he admitted to committing the offence'. It seems more natural when followed by a verbal noun.

@Skeeter Lewis
I'd say "he confessed to committing the offence" and even "he admitted committing the offence" both sound more natural than "he admitted to committing the offence".
But perhaps it's all in the eye (or the ear) of the beholder. :-))