The British state-run BBC is under fire after reports that it covered up for a “well-known” presenter who remained on air despite child sex abuse allegations.
The presenter is accused of paying a teenager over £35,000 for sexually explicit pictures.
The reports of child sex abuse have led to accusations that BBC bosses attempted to cover up another child sex scandal.
According to The Sun newspaper, a 17-year-old was propositioned by a prominent BBC presenter, whose name is currently withheld, to send sexually charged photographs in exchange for money later used for crack cocaine drug addiction.
The alleged victim, who is now 20 years old, devolved from a “happy-go-lucky youngster to a ghost-like crack addict” over three years, according to the mother.
“When I see him on telly, I feel sick. I blame this BBC man for destroying my child’s life. Taking my child’s innocence and handing over the money for crack cocaine that could kill my child,” the mother referring to the BBC presenter, said.
“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 exchanged for sexually explicit photographs of my child,” she added.
The unmanned presenter could now face charges of sexual exploitation under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 and violations of the Protection of Children Act 1978, which made it a criminal offense to ask someone under 18 to send sexually explicit pictures of themselves.
The BBC confirmed the presenter in question would not appear on air in the coming days.
However, questions remain as to why the presenter was not immediately suspended when the family made the allegations.
The Mirror reported the presenter in question partied with BBC executive weeks after the allegations were made.
BBC’s culture editor Katie Razzall said the fact that the presenter remained on air “leads to questions about what steps the Corporation took after the complaint.”
Former Culture Secretary Nadine Dories said:
“No place to hide for broadcasters who attempt to cover up this sort of behavior. Lives are ruined; that’s what matters, not damage limitation and brand protection. The public pay for the BBC; they have a right to know who this is, what happened, and action taken.”
Nazir Afzal, the prosecutor who led the Rochdale child rape grooming gang case, said he was “surprised that this person was not suspended once they became aware of the gravity of the allegation.”
“The police should have been engaged as soon as they worked out whether the complaint was genuine. Where are we now — the middle of July? Six, seven weeks on,” he said.
“They should have advised the police that this is a matter that they should be investigating, and that should have been done weeks ago. There’s no justification for the police not having become involved as early as possible.”
The BBC came under massive criticism for enabling a “culture of fear” that enabled longtime television presenter Jimmy Savile to sexually abuse hundreds of children.
The BBC had heard rumors about Savile abusing children, yet no action was taken until he died without ever facing justice in 2011
Police confirmed some 450 sexual abuse victims of Saville, 80 percent of whom were children.
Responding to the latest allegations, a BBC spokesman said:
“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 inquiries stop.”
READ: Elon Musk Destroys BBC Reporter Who Falsely Claims Twitter is FULL of “Hate Speech”
