What is the BBC presenter alleged to have done?
The BBC suspended one of its male presenters on Sunday after he was accused of spending £35,000 buying explicit images from a young person who spent the money on crack cocaine.
Their interactions allegedly began when the young person was 17 years old, meaning the BBC star may have been commissioning child sexual abuse images, a serious criminal offence.
Everything that has been made public so far relies on reporting by the Sun, which anonymously quoted the mother of the young person.
She told the newspaper her child, now 20, had shown her an online bank statement that had multiple deposits from the BBC presenter: “There were huge sums, hundreds, or thousands of pounds at a time. One time he had sent £5,000 in one lump. The money had been in exchange for sexually explicit photographs of my child.”
The mother said the BBC star requested “performances” from her child, who would “get their bits out” for him before spending the funds on drugs. “I blame this BBC man for destroying my child’s life,” she said. “Taking my child’s innocence and handing over the money for crack cocaine that could kill my child.”
When did the BBC learn of the allegations?
The BBC has confirmed the mother’s claim that an initial complaint was made in mid-May and it began investigating. However, the presenter remained on air until the Sun approached the BBC for comment on its story almost two months later.
BBC sources suggested the initial allegations were not as strong as the allegations made by the Sun, which triggered a full-blown investigation.
The BBC has now suspended the presenter, launched an internal investigation, and informed a specialist police unit that deals with high-profile individuals. Further contact with police is expected on Monday.
Why did the mother speak to the media?
The Sun, which often pays members of the public for information, says the mother made clear she did not want any money in return for sharing her story. It is not clear if their child has cooperated with the newspaper.
She told the newspaper she saw the BBC presenter “stripped to his underpants for a video call” with her child. She said she went to the press as she felt the BBC was not acting on her allegations: “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.”
Who is the BBC star accused of buying the explicit images?
The Sun and multiple other news outlets know the identity of the BBC presenter accused of wrongdoing but have so far declined to publish his name. Sources at the tabloid cited the UK’s increasingly strong privacy laws, along with other legal concerns about linking an individual to such damaging allegations. There is not believed to be any court injunction banning the disclosure of the name.
Is the anonymity creating a witch-hunt?
Social media has been flooded with false allegations against other prominent highly-paid male BBC presenters. Gary Lineker, Jeremy Vine and Nicky Campbell are among the BBC presenters who have issued statements distancing themselves from the allegations.
Could the presenter have broken the law?
If the presenter solicited pictures of a 17-year-old performing sexual acts then they could have come into possession of child abuse images, which is considered a serious sexual offence with a starting sentence of 26 weeks in prison.
However, if no explicit photos were exchanged until the young person turned 18 then that is likely to be within the law.
What does the young person think?
They have not been quoted in any of the Sun’s articles and it is unknown if they are taking part in any BBC investigation.
How bad could this be for the BBC?
In the past year alone there have been allegations of a failure to deal with allegations of sexual assault against the former presenter Tim Westwood, the resignation of the BBC chair Richard Sharp over his failure to disclose his links to the former prime minister Boris Johnson, and a successful rebellion by staff over the suspension of Gary Lineker for tweets about government policy.
Everyone at the BBC agrees the latest allegations are potentially far worse than anything in recent memory. The director general, Tim Davie, has been trying to steady the ship after the Lineker incident but the potential for a BBC presenter to be investigated by the police over allegations of possessing child sexual abuse images is seen as far worse than anything it has faced so far.
Questions being asked include why the BBC waited to suspend the presenter until the Sun broke the story, whether he received any special treatment, and whether the BBC’s internal investigation was up to scratch.
