The claims and counter claims in BBC presenter sex pics scandal: How teen at centre of allegations insists star did ‘nothing inappropriate or unlawful’ – as parents stand by their story and say BBC bosses ignored their claims
The BBC star at the centre of an alleged sex scandal has still not been named – although millions say they can identify him.
The parents of a teenager claim their child was paid £35,000 for sexually explicit photos by the household name since 2020.
The youngster at the centre of the claims, who is alleged to have received cash from the star presenter for three years, which was used to fund a drug habit, had sparked In an extraordinary war of words.
Lawyers acting for the individual issued a statement to the BBC saying ‘nothing inappropriate or unlawful’ had taken place between their client and the presenter.
The Sun has stood by its story, saying it had seen evidence of how ‘two very concerned parents’ had made a complaint to the BBC about the behaviour of a presenter and ‘their complaint was not acted upon’. And it quoted the mother and stepfather as saying they ‘stand by our account’. The couple also questioned who had paid to provide their child with an expensive lawyer.
Newspapers and broadcasters have not identified the household name, but social media has been rife with speculation. BBC chiefs are facing a near-revolt from mutinous fellow stars, who are said to have put ‘massive pressure’ on their colleague to identify himself after internet trolls falsely accused others of being the man.
One in six Britons quizzed by reporters correctly identified the presenter suspended over the lurid allegations – making a mockery of privacy laws.
Here is all we know so far:
The star presenter
Claim: A BBC broadcaster at the centre of claims he paid a teenager for explicit pictures allegedly appeared in his underwear in a video call, The Sun has reported.
The newspaper said the unnamed BBC star has been accused of paying a teenager more than £35,000 in exchange for sexual images over three years.
Neither the individual or the teenager, who was said to be 17 when the payments began, has been identified.
The alleged teenager’s mother told The Sun she saw a picture of the presenter on her child’s phone in which he was ‘sitting on a sofa in his house in his underwear’ and she said she was told it was ‘a picture from some kind of video call’.
She also told of how she saw a photo of the man stripped down to his boxer shorts for a video call ‘leaning forward, getting ready for my child to perform for him’.
She claims that earlier in 2023 she overheard the presenter ‘on the phone saying to my child: ‘I told you not to f****** ring me’.’
She also claims that her child was paid £1,000 via PayPal in June – after the family complained to the BBC in May.
Counter claim: The broadcaster has not spoken.
He was rumoured to be considering naming himself to deny the claims. Sources said the BBC had cleared part of their schedules but it hasn’t happened.
There are also claims that he is considering a libel action against The Sun.
One BBC insider told MailOnline: ‘He is lawyered up to the max. A lot of BBC execs are blaming him for the chaos at the weekend because he was keeping his head down and refusing to be identified’.
The teenager
Claim: That the youth stripped for the star and used the cash placed into their account to pay for crack cocaine. The youngsters parents insist they witnessed interaction with the star and saw a picture of him.
They also claim that they have seen money flowing into their loved-one’s account.
A spokesperson for The Sun said: ‘We have reported a story about two very concerned parents who made a complaint to the BBC about the behaviour of a presenter and the welfare of their child. Their complaint was not acted upon by the BBC.
‘We have seen evidence that supports their concerns. It’s now for the BBC to properly investigate.’
Counter claim: The young person said via a lawyer: ‘For the avoidance of doubt, nothing inappropriate or unlawful has taken place between our client and the BBC personality and the allegations reported in The Sun newspaper are rubbish.’
The legal representative also said the young person told The Sun on Friday evening before the newspaper published the story that there was ‘no truth to it’, the BBC reported.
The parents
Members of the media outside BBC Broadcasting House in central London as the national broadcaster faces pressure after an unnamed BBC presenter has been suspended after being accused of allegedly paying a teenager thousands of pounds for sexually explicit photos
Claim: The alleged victim’s family details the accusations in a newspaper interview, claiming the presenter paid for the explicit photographs for three years, from the age of 17.
The mother was left ‘shocked’ to see a photograph of star in his underwear on the sofa of his house while looking at her child’s phone.
The alleged victim’s mother also claimed the teenager used the cash to fund their spiralling drug habit. Now questioning how their child is getting cash for a lawyer, claiming the star has ‘got in his head’.
Family claim they have bank statements to prove claims and stand by their account.
The stepfather added: ‘Without the money, my partner’s child would have no drugs,’ adding that he had spoken to the BBC for an hour in May.
Counter-claim: The youngster has issued a statement through expensive lawyers dismissing all the parents’ allegations.
The BBC
BBC’s reveals timeline of events
May 18
- The complainant (a family member) attended a BBC building, where they sought to make a complaint about the behaviour of a BBC presenter.
May 19
- The complainant contacted BBC Audience Services; the details of this contact were referred to the BBC’s Corporate Investigations Team.
- The BBC’s Corporate Investigations Team assessed the information contained in the complaint provided from Audience Services. The assessment made was that on the basis of the information provided it did not include an allegation of criminality, but nonetheless merited further investigation.
- The BBC’s Corporate Investigations Team emailed the complainant stating how seriously the BBC takes the issue and seeking additional information to verify the claims being made; there was no response to this contact.
- Checks were also made to verify the identity of the complainant. This is a standard procedure to confirm that the complainant is the person they say they are.
June 6
- Having received no response to the email referenced above, a phone call was made to the mobile number provided by the complainant by the BBC’s Corporate Investigations Team; this call did not connect.
- Following these attempts to make contact with the complainant, the Corporate Investigations Team were due to return to the matter in the coming weeks. No additional attempts to contact the complainant were made after 6 June, however the case remained open throughout.
July 6
- The Sun newspaper informed the BBC via the Corporate Press Office of allegations concerning a BBC presenter; it became clear that the source of the claims was from the same family as approached the BBC on 18 and 19 May. This was the first time that the Director-General or any executive directors at the BBC were aware of the case.
- The claims made by The Sun contained new allegations, that were different to the matters being considered by BBC Corporate Investigations.
- The BBC initiated an incident management group to lead the response to this case, involving senior BBC executives including the Director-General. The Acting Chairman was updated, and the Board was regularly updated in the coming days.
- A senior manager held the first conversation on this matter with the presenter concerned, to make him aware of the claims being outlined by The Sun. It was agreed that the presenter would not be on air while this matter was being considered.
July 7
- Following The Sun’s contact, the BBC’s Corporate Investigations team contacted the complainant again, who was in touch with the BBC’s investigators.
- The BBC’s Serious Case Management Framework (SCMF) was initiated and the investigation being undertaken by the Corporate Investigations Team was brought into the SCMF, which is chaired by a Human Resources Director.
- The BBC also made contact with the Police with regard to this matter.
July 8
- The complainant sent the BBC some materials related to the complaint.
July 9
- BBC issued an update to staff and the media; the BBC also confirmed that it had suspended the presenter.
July 10
- The BBC met with the Police, to report the matter and discuss how to progress the investigation.
- The Police have requested that the BBC pause its investigations into the allegations while they scope future work.
Claim: The young person’s mother claimed in The Sun that she alerted the corporation on May 19. The teenager’s step father said he spoke to the Beeb for an hour two months ago.
It appears that he may have gone to a BBC building in person on May 18 to complain.
He told The Sun today of the BBC: ‘They’re not telling the truth. I told them the youngster was 20 and it had been going on for three years
‘I told the BBC I had gone to the police in desperation but they couldn’t do anything as they said it wasn’t illegal. They knew all of this.’ He added: ‘I don’t even think they spoke to him.’
Counter-claim: Sources at the BBC said the accusations then were different to the more serious ones made last week. But today Director General Tim Davie opened up about the scandal and set out a timeline.
He has ordered a review to ‘assess how some complaints are red flagged up the organisation’ following allegations a high-profile presenter paid a teenager for explicit images.
The corporation has said it made two attempts over several weeks to contact the family who claimed the unnamed presenter paid their child around £35,000 over three years, from the age of 17, for explicit images.
Davie was first informed of the allegations seven weeks after the family first complained about the presenter to the BBC, when The Sun said it would be publishing its front page story.
Mr Davie said he has asked Leigh Tavaziva, the BBC Group chief operating officer, to assess whether its protocols and procedures are appropriate in light of the case.
Speaking at a press conference about the BBC’s annual report, Mr Davie said: ‘Of course there will be lessons to be learned, and how processes could be improved.
‘Immediately I have asked that we assess how some complaints are red flagged up the organisation.
‘We will take time to properly review the current protocols and procedures to ensure they remain sufficient based on anything we learn from this case.’
The BBC has released a timeline of events, saying a family member of the young person first complained on May 18, when they went to a BBC building.
The following day the same family member contacted BBC Audience Services and the details of the claims were referred to the BBC’s Corporate Investigations Team, who assessed that the claims did not include an allegation of criminality, but nonetheless merited further investigation.
The Sun first contacted the BBC on July 6 about the allegations they were due to publish, which was the first time Mr Davie or any executive directors at the BBC were aware of the case.
Mr Davie told the World At One that he did not speak to the accused presenter on July 6, but instead the conversation was conducted by a ‘senior manager’, which the director-general said was the ‘right role’ for him in being able to oversee the process.
The claims made by The Sun contained new allegations, that were different from the matters being considered by BBC Corporate Investigations, the corporation said.
This was the first time the presenter concerned was spoken to about the matter, according to the BBC. The investigations team also contacted the complainant again.
Explaining why no contact was made with the complainant for more than a month, Mr Davie said ‘thousands’ of complaints are made and it is ‘appropriate’ there is a verification process.
Police
Scotland Yard met BBC chiefs yesterday to establish if there was any evidence of a crime.
The meeting took place via an online video call, rather than in person, and police said afterwards they were now ‘assessing’ the information.
Now they have asked the BBC to stop its investigation while they consider if any laws have been broken.
In a statement about the BBC presenter, a Met Police spokesperson said: ‘We have asked the BBC to pause its own investigation while we continue our assessment to establish whether there is evidence of a criminal offence being committed.
‘The assessment is being led by detectives from the Met’s specialist crime command and follows a virtual meeting with representatives from the BBC on the morning of Monday July 10.
‘There remains no police investigation at this time.’
The making, distributing, possessing or showing an indecent image of anyone under the age of 18 is a criminal offence under the Protection of Children Act 1978, as amended by the Sexual Offences Act 2003, even if the image was created with the consent of the young person, or the young person was asked to send a sexual image of themselves.
The offence carries a maximum sentence of ten years. Nazir Afzal, the former chief prosecutor who led the case against the Rochdale grooming gangs, said causing or inciting sexual exploitation of a child carries a maximum sentence of 14 years’ imprisonment.
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