Authorities clear BBC Anchor of criminal activity in Controversial teen photo scandal

There’s no evidence a BBC presenter who allegedly paid a teenager for sexually explicit photos committed a crime, London police said Wednesday as the broadcaster’s wife publicly identified him for the first time as veteran news anchor Huw Edwards.

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Metropolitan police decided to take no further action after speaking with the alleged victim and that person’s parents. The parents told The Sun newspaper last week that the presenter had been allowed to remain on air after the mother complained to the BBC in May that he paid the youth 35,000 pounds ($45,000) starting in 2020 when the person was 17.

As the story topped the news in Britain all week and embroiled the BBC in scandal, speculation swirled about the identify of the presenter. Some of the BBC’s biggest on-air personalities publicly said it wasn’t them and others called on the unnamed presenter to come forward. Edward’s wife, Vicky Flind, named her husband late Wednesday and said he was hospitalized with serious mental health issues.