Saturday, October 26

BBC presenter accused of paying teen for sexually specific images ‘tried to cease investigation after story broke’

The BBC presenter who’s alleged to have paid a 17-year-old tens of 1000’s of kilos for sexually specific photographs reportedly made two “panicked” calls to the younger particular person after the story broke final week.

In new allegations revealed in The Sun, the male presenter – who has not been named however is claimed to be a “household name” – referred to as the younger particular person to ask “what have you done?”.

He then allegedly requested the younger particular person to talk to his mom and urge her to cease the investigation, the paper added.

The mom of the now-20-year-old additionally claimed she was “upset” by the wording of a BBC assertion, and that nobody from the broadcaster initially obtained in contact along with her when she raised a criticism in May.

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BBC suspends unnamed presenter

The presenter, who was suspended by the BBC on Sunday, reportedly paid £35,000 for the images – the cash of which, the mom has claimed, has been spent on a drug behavior.

He allegedly first requested photographs from the teen in 2020 after they had been aged 17 and has made a sequence of funds through the years, in line with The Sun.

The teen’s mom instructed The Sun she noticed an image of the presenter on her kid’s telephone “sitting on a sofa in his house in his underwear”.

The mom mentioned she was instructed it was “a picture from some kind of video call” and seemed like he was “getting ready for my child to perform for him”.

Read extra:
Everything we all know in regards to the claims
BBC should ‘get a grip’ after new allegations

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What we learn about claims towards BBC star

In an announcement, the broadcaster mentioned it “takes any allegations seriously” and has “robust internal processes in place to proactively deal with such allegations”.

The BBC mentioned that whereas it first grew to become conscious of a criticism in May, “new allegations” of a “different nature” had been put to it on Thursday, including it had been “in touch with external authorities, in line with our protocols”.

A Met Police spokesperson confirmed it had been contacted by the BBC however mentioned “no formal referral or allegation has been made”.

BBC taking allegations ‘extremely significantly’

In an e mail to workers on Sunday, director-general Tim Davie mentioned the BBC was taking the allegations “incredibly seriously”.

He added: “By law, individuals are entitled to a reasonable expectation of privacy, which is making this situation more complex.

“I additionally need to be very clear that I’m wholly condemning the unsubstantiated rumours being made on the web about a few of our presenting expertise.

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Culture sec avoids questions on BBC scandal

“We are in contact with the family referenced in the media reports. I want to assure you that we are working rapidly to establish the facts.”

The company mentioned it anticipated to have the ability to present an extra replace within the “coming days”.

On Sunday, Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer mentioned the BBC was appearing “swiftly and sensitively”.

She had spoken to Mr Davie on the telephone and tweeted: “Given the nature of the allegations it is important that the BBC is now given the space to conduct its investigation, establish the facts and take appropriate action.”

Content Source: information.sky.com