London — Former British prime minister Edward Heath would have been questioned over claims that he had sexually assaulted five boys if he were still alive, police announced on Thursday. Heath, who was premier between 1970 and 1974, is alleged to have raped an 11-year-old boy during a paid sexual encounter, officers revealed after a two-year investigation. Heath, who died in 2005 aged 89, would have been interviewed over seven allegations dating between 1961 and 1992, relating to five boys and two adult men. "Sir Edward Heath was an extremely prominent, influential and high-profile person who was arguably one of the most powerful people in the world," Wiltshire police chief constable Mike Veale said. The allegations against him were from "a significant number of people", he said. The £1.5m probe was triggered in 2015 after Heath was named as a suspect in an investigation into so-called historical child sex abuse. Of the 42 allegations made against Heath, seven were sufficiently credi...

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