Edward Heath Latest to be Accused of Child Abuse Claims

At least five police forces have conducting investigations into accusations of child abuse against former Prime Minister Edward Heath.

The Conservative peer, who passed away in 2005, has been accused of multiple accounts of molesting young children and claims of historical sex abuse. The Met, Wiltshire, Kent and Jersey and at least one other force have stated that they have been examining claims that Lord Heath was a paedophile.

Sexual Abuse Claims

The claims against Heath come following the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) revealing that it was was investigating claims made by a retired senior officer that the prosecution against a brothel-keeper was dropped after she threatening to expose Lord Heath as a paedophile. The senior officer claims that the police were involved in the cover-up regarding Lord Heath

The brother-keeper who made the claim was arrested twice and lived less than a mile from Heath although the IPCC refused to comment on whether the brothel-keeper was the original source of the child abuse claims.

Following the claims made the retired police officer, the Wiltshire police appealed for any potential victims and witnesses to Heath's alleged abuse to come forward. A recent statement from the force revealed that they had received a number of calls regarding historical sexual abuse after the release of information.

As well as the Wiltshire police receiving calls, a national newspaper ran with a story that a man was raped at the age of 12 by Heath after he was picked up in the politician's car in the Metropolitan police area. Scotland Yard said that it had assessed an allegation of rape against Heath but decided that there were "no lines of inquiry that could proportionately be pursued by the Met".

Operations Into Historic Sexual Abuse

With at least five forces investigating such claims, it is expected that the allegations against Heath will be brought together and investigated by the umbrella operation, Operation Hydrant. Operation Midland, which is an operation set up to examine claims of systematic child abuse by a Westminster paedophile ring, falls under said operation that aims to pull together allegations from different areas of society. Operation Hydrant is aimed at investigating alleged sexual abuse in the past by members of institutions, and high-profile individuals.

A spokesman for the National Police Chiefs' Council said: "Staff from Operation Hydrant are working closely with relevant forces to assess the extent of reported information concerning the late Sir Edward Heath, and at the conclusion of that process a lead force will be appointed to oversee the police investigations."

An NSPCC helpline, which is being used as part of the inquiries into Heath, has received a number of calls since Heath's name was first released into the public domain by the IPCC with the police gathering further information before furthering their investigation.

High Profile Cases

Heath is merely the latest name to be released to the public about potential historical sexual abuse. He is one of around 76 politicians, with some being alive and others dead, who have been or are still being investigated by forces under Operation Hydrant and police forces across the country.The identities of most of the politicians have been kept out of the public domain to try and find suitable evidence rather than have some potentially misleading calls. .

In the last year, the head of Operation Hydrant, Simon Bailey said forces across the country were investigating or had investigated 1,433 men since the start of 2014 regarding allegations of child abuse or historical child abuse. Of those investigated, the suspects 76 politicians, both on a local and national level, 43 from the music industry, 135 from TV, film, or radio, and seven from the world of sport. Of those being investigated 216 of those named were dead.

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