CNN
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One of the United Kingdom’s leading news anchors, Huw Edwards, was named by his wife on Wednesday as the BBC presenter who was suspended following allegations over payments for sexually explicit images.
The longtime BBC anchor, one of the network’s highest-earning stars, has led coverage of some of the biggest stories in the UK in recent years, including the death of Queen Elizabeth II last September, royal weddings, elections and the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Edwards’ wife, Vicky Flind, said he was being treated in the hospital with “serious mental health issues,” and that she was issuing the statement on his behalf after days of speculation “primarily out of concern for his mental well-being and to protect our children,” according to a statement published by BBC News.
The statement came soon after London’s Metropolitan Police said that there was no indication that a criminal offense had been committed.
“Huw is suffering from serious mental health issues. As is well documented, he has been treated for severe depression in recent years,” Flind said. “The events of the last few days have greatly worsened matters, he has suffered another serious episode and is now receiving in-patient hospital care where he’ll stay for the foreseeable future.”
The statement did not detail any of the allegations made against Edwards over the past week. Flind said that she hoped the statement would bring an end to recent media speculation about other BBC presenters.
“In the circumstances and given Huw’s condition I would like to ask that the privacy of my family and everyone else caught up in these upsetting events is respected,” the statement said.
She also said Edwards “was first told that there were allegations being made against him last Thursday” and that he intends to respond “once well enough to do so.”
The case, which has dominated the British news agenda this week, emerged when The Sun newspaper reported Friday that a mother had accused an unnamed presenter of paying for sexually explicit photographs from her teenage child, who was 17 when contact was first made, and who is now 20.
The BBC suspended “a male member of staff” following the report and said in a statement on Sunday that it first became aware of the complaint in May.
Amid the fevered speculation about the presenter’s identity, a lawyer for the young person at the center of the controversy disputed the claims reported in The Sun, saying in a letter to the BBC that they were “rubbish.”
After assessing the case, police said they had “determined there is no information to indicate that a criminal offense has been committed.
There were fresh allegations made against the presenter this week, according to BBC News, which reported that a second unnamed person come forward with claims.
The police said they were aware “of media reporting” regarding the further allegations but “no specific details or information about these allegations have been passed to us and therefore there is no police action at this time,” the police said in its statement on Wednesday.
The BBC said it had seen the police’s statement and would “move forward” with its own investigation.
