World Courant
LONDON — There isn’t a proof {that a} BBC presenter who allegedly paid an adolescent for sexually express images dedicated against the law, London police stated on Wednesday when the broadcaster’s spouse first publicly recognized him as former information anchor Huw Edwards.
The Metropolitan Police determined to take no additional motion after chatting with the alleged sufferer and that particular person’s mother and father. The mother and father advised The Solar newspaper final week that the presenter was allowed to stay on the air after the mom complained to the BBC in Might that he had paid the teen £35,000 ($45,000) from 2020, when the particular person was 17.
With the story topped the information in Britain all week and the BBC embroiled in scandal, hypothesis swirled in regards to the presenter’s identification. Among the BBC’s largest on-air personalities publicly stated it wasn’t them and others referred to as for the unnamed presenter to come back ahead.
Edward’s spouse, Vicky Flind, referred to as her husband late on Wednesday and stated he had been hospitalized with critical psychological well being issues.
After “5 extraordinarily troublesome days for our household,” Flind stated she named him “primarily out of concern for his psychological well-being and to guard our kids.”
“The occasions of the previous few days have made issues worse, he has had one other critical episode and is now receiving hospital care, the place he’ll stay for the foreseeable future,” she stated.
Edwards, 61, is certainly one of Britain’s best-known and most authoritative information broadcasters, essential anchor on the BBC’s evening information and the face of election protection. He led the BBC’s protection of Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in September. He is without doubt one of the broadcaster’s highest paid stars, with an annual wage of a minimum of £435,000 ($565,000).
The daddy of 5 stated in a 2021 documentary that despair had left him bedridden for greater than 20 years.
The BBC stated it could proceed its investigation into the matter.
The UK’s government-funded nationwide broadcaster had scrambled to cope with the disaster after the allegations had been first revealed by The Solar this weekend. It stated it was conscious of a criticism in Might, however “new allegations of a unique nature had been delivered to us on Thursday.”
It did not identify Edwards, however stated it had suspended a male star over the allegations. He final appeared on air in Edinburgh every week in the past for a particular broadcast on Scotland’s celebration of the coronation of King Charles III.
A lawyer representing the teen in query, who was not named, advised the BBC earlier this week that “nothing improper or illegal has taken place between our consumer and the BBC character.” The lawyer stated the allegations in The Solar had been “nonsense”.
The tabloid defended its reporting by saying that involved mother and father had made a criticism to the BBC that had not been acted upon.
The Metropolitan Police issued a press release on Wednesday saying no additional motion shall be taken.
“Investigators from the Met’s Specialist Crime Command have now accomplished their evaluation and have decided that there isn’t any data to recommend {that a} prison offense has been dedicated,” police stated.
Though the age of sexual consent in Britain is 16, it’s a crime to make or possess indecent pictures of anybody below the age of 18.
Jon Sopel, the previous editor of BBC Information North America, despatched his greatest needs to Edwards and his household.
“This can be a horrific and surprising episode, wherein there was no crime, however maybe an advanced non-public life,” Sopel tweeted. “That does not really feel very non-public proper now. I hope that offers you one thing to consider.”
The episode comes lower than two months after British business broadcaster ITV confronted its personal scandal when Phillip Schofield, a longtime presenter of the channel’s in style morning present, give up in Might and admitted mendacity about an affair with a a lot youthful colleague.
The BBC has been hit by a number of scandals involving its stars over time, most notoriously when Jimmy Savile, a longtime kids’s tv presenter, was uncovered after his dying in 2011 as a pedophile who had been abusing kids and youngsters for many years.
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Related Press Author Jill Lawless contributed to this report.
