A lawyer representing the young person at the centre of the allegations made against a BBC presenter has disputed their mother's claims.
The unnamed presenter has been accused of paying more than £35,000 to a teenager - now 20 years old - in exchange for sexually explicit images, according to the young person's mother.
The mother of the alleged recipient claims her child used the money to fund an addiction to crack cocaine and says she blames the presenter for "destroying her child's life". She also claims to have first contacted the BBC regarding the allegations on May 19.
Following the BBC News reporting the legal letter, the mother spoke out via The Sun and questioned how her child can afford to hire a lawyer. She stands by her original claims.
In a letter to the BBC, the lawyer wrote: "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 letter from the lawyer also said that the young person sent a denial to the newspaper on Friday evening via WhatsApp, in which they said the allegation was "totally wrong and there was no truth to it".
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."
On Friday [July 7], The Sun reported an unidentified BBC presenter allegedly paid a teenager more than £35,000 for sexually explicit pictures. It was claimed an unnamed star at the national broadcaster has been accused of handing over cash sums in return for explicit images from the teenager when they were 17-years-old. In an additional report, the mother of the anonymous accuser alleged the still then unnamed BBC presenter stripped to his underwear during a video call with her then teenage child.
"I was shocked to see a picture of him sitting on a sofa in his house in his underwear," she told the publication, before adding: "I immediately recognised him, he was leaning forward getting ready for my child to perform for him. My child told me, 'I have shown things' and this was a picture from some kind of video call."
The woman claims she initially raised concerns with the corporation in May after the BBC presenter sent £5,000 in one transaction for sexually explicit photographs of their child.
However, just weeks later, the man was reportedly partying with fellow stars at a swanky event alongside the senior executives. Speaking to the Sunday Mirror, a guest said: "If this man was aware of what was hanging over him, he certainly didn't show it."
When first approached for comment following the initial reports, the BBC told the Mirror: "We treat any allegations very seriously and we have processes in place to proactively deal with them. As part of that, if we receive information that requires further investigation or examination we will take steps to do this. That includes actively attempting to speak to those who have contacted us in order to seek further detail and understanding of the situation.
"If we get no reply to our attempts or receive no further contact that can limit our ability to progress things but it does not mean our enquiries stop. If, at any point, new information comes to light or is provided – including via newspapers – this will be acted upon appropriately, in line with internal processes."
Earlier today, the Metropolitan Police said it is undertaking further enquiries after meeting the BBC about allegations that an unnamed presenter paid a teenager for sexually explicit images, but added there was no investigation under way.
Detectives from the Met's Specialist Crime Command met with representatives from the BBC on the morning of Monday, 10 July. They are assessing the information discussed at the meeting and further enquiries are taking place to establish whether there is evidence of a criminal offence being committed. The meeting took place virtually and it's been confirmed there is no investigation at this time.
Over the weekend, a number of BBC stars took to social media to deny being the mystery presenter amid online speculation about who it could be, with Rylan Clark, Jeremy Vine and Nicky Campbell issuing statements via their respective Twitter accounts.
