Nine questions BBC refused to answer about top star taken off air for ‘paying for sex pictures of teen’
BELOW are the nine questions we put to the BBC yesterday about their top star who was taken off air for ‘paying for sex pictures of a teen’.
The Beeb did not answer each one but instead referred us back to a general statement issued on Friday, including that it treats “any allegations very seriously”.
- WHAT did you do when the first complaint about the BBC star was received?
- HOW many attempts were made to contact the family about their complaint?
- DO you consider this a satisfactory response given their concerns that a child’s life was in danger?
- WAS the presenter spoken to after the initial complaint? — and if not, why not?
- WHEN was the first time the presenter was spoken to about the matter?
- WILL you take steps to establish if payments to the child continued after the family’s first point of contact with the BBC?
- ARE you investigating whether the presenter was calling the child from work/during working hours?
- IS the licence-payer paying for or contributing to the presenter’s mobile costs?
- WAS the presenter instructed not to speak to the young person and if not why not?
The Sun’s bombshell claims that the presenter gave the teenager more than £35,000 dominated the BBC’s news coverage as bosses remained silent on the crisis.
Senior Tory MP Caroline Dinenage said: “The BBC clearly has some very serious questions to answer.”
The mother who claims a BBC star paid her child for sexual pictures told yesterday how she was stunned to see a phone image of the presenter in his boxer shorts.
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She recalled: “I loved watching him on TV.
“So I was shocked to see a picture of him sitting on a sofa in his house in his underwear.
“I immediately recognised him.
“He was leaning forward getting ready for my child to perform for him.
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“My child told me, ‘I have shown things’ and this was a picture from some kind of video call.”
The star is off air but has not been suspended while claims are being investigated.
They include one that he gave the youngster more than £35,000 since they were 17 in return for sordid images.
According to the BBC’s website, staff accused of a serious breach of discipline can be “immediately suspended”.
But the presenter is believed to still being paid his full six-figure salary.
The allegations in yesterday’s Sun rocked the BBC.
Stars including Gary Lineker went online to deny it was them.
The story dominated BBC TV, radio and online news coverage.
And BBC journalists reported that the corporation faced questions over its handling of the crisis.
On Radio 4’s flagship Today programme, BBC culture and media editor Katie Razzall said: “It’s the front page of The Sun newspaper and the allegations are very serious.
“So clearly, there are questions swirling not just about the identity of the BBC individual, and of course, whether the claims are true, but also for the BBC in terms of what steps the corporation took after that complaint was made.”
In an interview with The Sun on Sunday, the mother said the family complained in May but became frustrated that the star was still on air a month later.
She said in June her child told her they had received a payment of £1,000 — allegedly transferred by PayPal.
She went on: “My child said they had run out of money and then suddenly had this cash.
“It’s obvious to me the BBC hadn’t spoken to this man between our complaint on May 19 and in June as they thought he was too important.
“We never wanted an investigation.
“We just wanted the BBC to tell him to stop.
“Initially the security boss gave us a number that didn’t exist.”
'Ghost-like crack addict'
She added of the presenter: “Earlier this year I heard him on the phone saying to my child, ‘I told you not to f***ing ring me’.
“It was shocking as I’d see how he would act on the telly and then he would say stuff like that.”
Earlier the mother heartbreakingly told how the teenager, now 20, used the man’s alleged funds to feed a “spiralling” drug addiction.
She said they had gone from a “happy-go-lucky youngster to a ghost-like crack addict” in three years.
The mum said: “We’ve always had a close relationship.
“My child would be like, ‘Oh, the presenter is giving me money later,’ or, ‘He’s giving me £500.’ and ‘I’m going out tonight because he’s given me money’.”
“I didn’t like what I was being told but I didn’t want my child to stop confiding in me.
“The presenter never hid his job.
“He even sent a picture of his desk at work to my child which I saw.”
The family finally approached The Sun, making it clear they wanted no payment.
The mother told The Sun on Sunday: “We just wanted the BBC to tell him to stop.
“I’ve had three years of hell.
“The impact of this has been terrifying.
“My child was always a great student but there’s been a radical change of behaviour.
“It’s heartbreaking.
“In my mind that man was supplying the crack.
“My child wouldn’t have access to this money if it wasn’t for him.
“If it goes on then my child is going to wind up dead.
“Putting this out to the public is the only way to stop it.”
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Her claims are included in a sworn affidavit she has provided to The Sun.
Last night the BBC said they were taking the allegations “very seriously” and that their probe was being led by the head of their corporate investigations team.