The BBC has said it did not put allegations made by the family of a young person to a presenter accused of paying them thousands of pounds for sexually explicit photos until seven weeks after they were first raised.
The BBC has since suspended the unnamed male presenter.
Speaking to the press following the release of their annual report, BBC director-general Tim Davie said the scandal has prompted a review into BBC procedures and protocols, specifically how “complaints are red flagged up the organisation”.
A timeline released by the corporation says that the family first attempted to raise a complaint in-person at a BBC building on 18 May, and followed that up by contacting the BBC Audience Service the following day.
The BBC says that on 19 May the matter was referred to their Corporate Investigations Team, who decided that while the claims “did not include an allegation of criminality” the matter “nonetheless merited further investigation”.
They say it was then they first attempted to contact the complainant, via email, but received no response. No further contact was attempted until 6 June, when the BBC says it attempted to call the complainant on the phone. They say “this call did not connect”.
Although the case remained open, they made no further attempt to contact the complainant until The Sun newspaper contacted them on 6 July to say the claims would be their front page story. It was on this day that the director-general, Tim Davie, and the presenter in question were first made aware of the allegations.
The BBC says the claims put to them by The Sun “contained new allegations” that “were different to the matters being considered by BBC”. It says that at this point the decision was made to take the presenter off air.
The BBC says it then contacted the complainant on 7 July – seven weeks after the initial complaint – and on the same day contacted the police. The corporation says it has since paused its investigation at the request of officers.
The Metropolitan Police confirmed it had asked the BBC to halt proceedings while officers assess whether a criminal act has been committed.
On 9 July, the BBC confirmed it had suspended the presenter.
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Tim Davie acknowledges it is a ‘difficult and complex situation’
BBC boss has not spoken directly to presenter
Responding to questions from the media, Mr Davie said he had not spoken directly to the presenter in question, and refused to be drawn on how the scandal might play out. He also refused to speculate on when – or if – the presenter could be back on TV.
He confirmed that the BBC Group chief operating officer Leigh Tavaziva has been tasked with assessing whether its protocols and procedures are appropriate in light of the case.
When asked by the media why no contact was made with the complainant for more than a month, Mr Davie said “thousands” of complaints are made and it is “appropriate” there is a verification process.
He said: “Some verification of that claim is appropriate once the Corporate Investigations team has taken something on, they do some due diligence on what is being alleged.
“Because if we work this through, you’d be in a situation where anyone can ring anything in and you’re taking that straight to presenters or whatever and having that duty of care issue there and a whole load of issues.”
He would not say if the presenter in question had offered to resign, and when asked if support was being offered to the presenter, he said the corporation was “excellent” at offering the right support, and duty of care was one of their “highest priorities”.
Later speaking to BBC Radio 4’s World At One programme, Mr Davie admitted that there had been over time, a “mix of quite difficult and painful affairs and storms, conceding, “these are clearly damaging to the BBC”.
He went on to acknowledge that “it’s not a good situation,” but said he believes the corporation has been “as transparent as we can be”.
Claims of explicit photos and video calls in underwear
The unnamed male presenter has been accused of paying the youth more than £35,000 for explicit pictures.
Live updates: BBC presenter row latest
According to The Sun, which broke the story last week, the presenter first requested images in 2020 when the youth was 17 and made a series of payments over the years.
The youth is now understood to be 20.
They reportedly used the money to fund an addiction to crack cocaine that “destroyed” their life.
It was also alleged the presenter stripped to his underwear during a video call.
However, on Monday, the BBC reported a statement from the young person’s lawyer, saying their mother’s claims were “rubbish” and “totally wrong”.
The letter said nothing unlawful or inappropriate took place. It also said the young person is now estranged from their mother.
Read more:
Sunak: Allegations ‘shocking’ but confident ‘rigorous’ investigation under way
What have The Sun said about it?
The Sun responded: “We’ve seen evidence to support the concerns of two parents. It’s now for the BBC to properly investigate.”
The family said they made a complaint to the BBC on 19 May but approached The Sun after becoming frustrated the star was still on air a month later.
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This is confirmed by the BBC’s own timeline, which says “On 18 May, the complainant (a family member) attended a BBC building, where they sought to make a complaint about the behaviour of a BBC presenter”.
Then it says: “On 19 May, the complainant contacted BBC Audience Services; the details of this contact were referred to the BBC’s Corporate Investigations Team.”
The timeline adds: “On 19 May, the BBC’s Corporate Investigations Team emailed the complainant stating how seriously the BBC takes the issue and seeking additional information to verify the claims being made; there was no response to this contact.
“On 19 May, checks were also made to verify the identity of the complainant. This is a standard procedure to confirm that the complainant is the person they say they are.
“On 6 June, having received no response to the email referenced above, a phone call was made to the mobile number provided by the complainant by the BBC’s Corporate Investigations Team; this call did not connect.
“Following these attempts to make contact with the complainant, the Corporate Investigations Team were due to return to the matter in the coming weeks. No additional attempts to contact the complainant were made after 6 June, however the case remained open throughout.”
BBC presenters rush to defend reputations
While The Sun has not revealed the presenter’s name, it said he’s paid a six-figure salary and is currently off-air.
It has led to many well-known BBC presenters – including Rylan Clark, Jeremy Vine and Nicky Campbell – all making clear on social media they have nothing to do with the case.
The Sun said that after the allegations were published the presenter phoned the young person and asked them “what have you done?”
The growing scandal, which has massively overshadowed the corporation’s annual report and led to questions around audience trust, will further add to scrutiny around the corporation’s handling of complaints and its duty of care to the public.
