Unnamed BBC Presenter Allegedly Paid Teenager for Sexually Explicit Photographs

Last week, The Sun published a story claiming that an unnamed BBC presenter had paid a teenager over £35,000 for sexually explicit photographs. The report claims that the presenter asked for pictures from the teen when they were 17 and that the misconduct had led the adolescent to fall into a drug addiction.

The family is reported to have become frustrated that the star remained on air and approached the newspaper after making a complaint to the BBC in May. The BBC said it first became aware of ‘new allegations’ on Thursday. On Sunday, they confirmed that a male presenter has been suspended and that the BBC is in touch with the police. In a statement released on Friday, they 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 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.”

The Metropolitan Police says that no formal allegation has been made and it requires additional information before it can make a decision about further steps. 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 ten years.

The presenter has not been named for various legal reasons. This has not stopped social media from speculating and attacking various BBC figures. Presenters like Rylan Clark and Gary Lineker issued denials on Twitter after being bombarded with fury over the story. It hasn’t taken long for this case to get extremely homophobic. Wannabe tweet crusaders should probably think twice, however, as engaging in these baseless accusations could lead to legal action against them. BBC Radio 5 host Nicky Campbell said it had been a ‘distressing’ weekend after being accused online of being the unnamed presenter, and that he planned to speak to his lawyers about potential defamation suits.

This is another scandal for the BBC, who have faced many controversies lately, from their mishandling of Gary Lineker following accusations of political biases to claims they had demanded their presenters and journalists step away from Pride-related celebrations. And then, of course, there is the elephant in the room that is the decades of culpability regarding the abuses of presenters like Jimmy Savile, and the culture of silence the corporation helped to create.