Why BBC presenter, who paid teen £35,000 for sexual photos, has not been named
Why BBC presenter, who paid teen £35,000 for sexual photos, has not been named
Yet another scandal has dented the reputation of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). A presenter has been accused of paying a teenager tens of thousands of pounds for sexually explicit images. On Sunday, the public service broadcaster suspended him.
Politicians in Britain have demanded a rapid investigation into the accusations and the BBC said that it was working to establish the facts of “a complex and fast-moving set of circumstances.”
British tabloid The Sun was the first to report the story. The male BBC presenter allegedly gave the child 35,000 pounds (Rs 37 lakh) for sexual pictures.
What are the accusations against the BBC presenter?
The presenter is said to have paid the young person tonnes of money for the photographs. The payments have said to have begun when the teen was 17, which is over the age of sexual consent.
Though the age of sexual consent in Britain is 16, it’s a crime to make or possess indecent images of anyone under 18.
The report by The Sun has anonymously quoted the mother of the teenager. She told the publication that the money was used by the child to purchase drugs, which led to cocaine addiction. The payments were made over three years.
The mother told The Sun that her child is now 20 and online statements of their bank account showed 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.”
According to the mother, the BBC employee requested “performances” from her child, who would “get their bits out for him”. She also said that she saw the presenter “stripped to his underpants for a video call” with the teen.
“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,” she said.
Did the BBC know of the accusations?
According to The Sun, the young person’s mother had complained to the BBC in May. However, the presenter continued to remain on air.
The BBC said that after receiving the initial complaint it had started an investigation. However, a full-blown investigation started only after The Sun approached the broadcaster for comments. The initial allegations were not strong as the ones made by the tabloid.
The BBC said in a statement on Sunday that it “first became aware of a complaint in May,” but that “new allegations were put to us on Thursday of a different nature”.
The broadcaster said that it takes “any allegations seriously and we have robust internal processes in place to proactively deal with such allegations”. It added that the corporation had also been in touch with “external authorities”.
“This is a complex and fast-moving set of circumstances and the BBC is working as quickly as possible to establish the facts in order to properly inform appropriate next steps,” it said. “We can also confirm a male member of staff has been suspended.”
The corporation is meeting with the police on Monday to discuss the matter.
Why did the mother speak to the press?
The child’s mother said that she felt the BBC was not acting on her complaint and hence decided to speak to the media. “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,” she said.
The woman said that she did not want an investigation and just wanted the BBC to tell the presenter to stop.
The Sun has a reputation for paying the public for information. However, the newspaper said that the mother did not want any money for sharing the story, according to a report in The Guardian.
Who is the BBC male presenter?
The Sun nor the BBC have named the male presenter.
However, he reportedly made panicked phone calls to the BBC after the story was published to try and stop the investigation, reports The Independent.
“What have you done?”, the now-suspended TV star reportedly asked.
Why has the BBC male presenter not been named?
The matter is complex and it involves both editorial ethics and the law.
The report in The Sun does not go into specifics and all the claims are allegations. It is not clear if the tabloid has sufficient evidence, and if it does, what this evidence is and who supplied it. It is also unclear if The Sun has seen proof of payments made to the team or the alleged photograph of the presenter in underwear. Other outlets reporting the matter are quoting from the newspaper.
Lack of reportable evidence could lead to legal problems. The UK has stringent defamation laws, which protect individuals against harm caused to them or their reputation. Any inference or innuendo can have consequences.
What has been the fallout of not naming the accused?
Several names have been doing the rounds on social media since the matter came to light. Amid speculation, some of the BBC’s popular faces have spoken up to say it wasn’t them.
BBC Match of the Day star Gary Lineker clarified that the presenter accused of paying the teenager for sexual pictures was not him. “Hate to disappoint the haters but it’s not me,” he posted on Twitter.
Hate to disappoint the haters but it’s not me.
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) July 8, 2023
Other BBC presenters Rylan Clark, Jeremy Vine and Nicky Campbell have also come forward to say that there were not involved. Campbell suggested he had contacted the police about being falsely mentioned online in connection with the story.
Will the presenter be punished?
The Protection of Children Act 1978 says that it is a crime to take, make, share and possess indecent images of people under 18. The maximum sentence is 10 years, says a BBC report .
A person under the age of 18 cannot give their consent to the images being taken.
What does this mean for the BBC?
Controversies continue to haunt the BBC. It faces greater scrutiny than other broadcasters because it is taxpayer-funded and committed to remaining impartial in its news coverage.
It was engulfed in a storm over free speech and political bias in March when its leading sports presenter, former England football player Gary Lineker, criticised the government’s immigration policy on social media. He was first suspended then resorted after other sports presenters, analysts and Premier League players boycotted the BBC airwaves in solidarity, reports The Associated Press.
In April, BBC chair Richard Sharp had to step down after he failed to disclose links to former prime minister Boris Johnson.
There have been allegations that the BBC failed to deal with sexual assault allegations against former presenter Tim Westwood. Now the latest accusations come as a big blow to the Corporation.
With inputs from agencies
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