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Former Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath would have been questioned under caution over allegations of rape and indecent assault of boys if he had been alive when they came to light, police say.
The claims include: the rape of an 11-year-old boy in 1961 in a "paid sexual encounter"; the indecent assault of a 10-year-old boy in a public place in 1962; and the indecent assault of a 15-year-old boy during three paid encounters around 1964.
In all, a report by Wiltshire Police says Sir Edward would have been interviewed over seven allegations
Police stressed their report makes no comment or inference on the guilt or otherwise of the former Conservative prime minister, who died 12 years ago and was in power between 1970 and 1974.
Officers have spent the last two years gathering witness statements and information as part of the Operation Conifer investigation, while facing strong criticism from the politician's allies and friends.
Sir Edward was PM from 1970 to 1974
Forty people made disclosures to the investigation, police said, covering 1956 to 1992, and they included some allegations of physical as well as sexual abuse.
But many would not have met the threshold required for the former prime minister to be interviewed because of undermining evidence, officers said.
There were also three cases of mistaken identity.
Police added that two people may have attempted to mislead them by alleging abuse, with one of them making three disclosures purporting to be three different people.
The inquiry has been controversial since the start, after a senior officer made a TV appeal outside Sir Edward's former home encouraging potential victims to come forward.
Friends and family of Sir Edward have said he was "completely asexual" and have called for an independent review - which they said would find the allegations to be "groundless".
Sir Edward's godson, Lincoln Seligman, told Sky News: "What I want is a judge-led inquiry to look at those allegations as evidence - which is what the police have not done.
"They chose not to - and I think they say they were not allowed to look in depth at those - so there's been no corroboration, they are just what people have said, and untested completely.
"We would like it to be looked at by an objective mind."
Former cabinet secretary Lord Armstrong and Lord Hunt of Wirral, chairman of the Sir Edward Heath Charitable Foundation, said in a joint statement: "The Wiltshire Police report is profoundly unsatisfactory because it neither justifies nor dispels the cloud of suspicion.
"All those who knew Sir Edward Heath or worked with him are, without exception, convinced that the allegations of child abuse will all be found to be groundless," they added.
A spokeswoman for the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse said it would consider Wiltshire Police's report.
She said: "In regard to the allegations concerning Sir Edward Heath, the inquiry will investigate whether there was any knowledge within Westminster institutions, and if so, what actions were taken."
(SKY NEWS)
