The BBC has suspended a male member of staff following allegations an unnamed presenter paid a teenager tens of thousands of pounds for sexually explicit images.
However, the young person at the centre of the controversy said nothing inappropriate or unlawful happened.
The BBC has been asked to pause its investigation into allegations a BBC presenter paid a teenager for explicit images “while the police scope future work” following a meeting with the Metropolitan Police, the corporation has said.
The BBC’s Corporate Investigations Team met the force on Monday following The Sun newspaper’s report that the unnamed presenter paid a young person around £35,000 over three years, from the age of 17, for explicit images.
The presenter has been suspended by the BBC and a review into the protocols and procedures around complaints has been ordered by the director-general Tim Davie.
Here is the BBC’s account of how events unfolded:
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 and 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. The BBC said 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; the 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 June 6, 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.
The BBC said it became clear that the source of the claims was from the same family as approached the BBC on May 18 and May 19.
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
The complainant continued to send the BBC materials to do with the complaint.
The BBC issued an update to staff and the media. The broadcaster 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.
