London Police have asked the BBC to suspend its own investigation into alleged misconduct by a BBC presenter so as not to frustrate police inquiries. That said BBC general manager Tim Davie on Tuesday afternoon. “The police must now do their job.”
The case of the still unknown presenter is “deeply damaging” for the BBC. “This is not a good situation,” said Tim Davie. He came out for the first time since The Sun began reporting on the allegations on Friday. The newspaper reported that a presenter allegedly paid a teenager a total of £35,000 for nude photos over a three-year period. This may already have happened when the young person was still a minor and there is a question of a criminal offense. The youngster’s family had already complained to the BBC about this on May 18. The Sun described this based on the story of the parents.
“Nothing inappropriate or illegal”
The 20-year-old, who according to the parents is addicted to cocaine, came out with a remarkable statement on Monday evening. It is contrary to what his parents claim. His lawyer said: “Nothing improper or illegal has taken place between our client and the BBC personality and the allegations in the newspaper The Sun are nonsense.” The parents then responded The Sun: they stuck to their story.
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The BBC suspended the presenter on Sunday. For privacy reasons, no medium mentions his name, only that it is a man. The BBC describes him in reporting as a “BBC star” and as “a high-profile presenter”. This is partly the explanation for the fact that this case is receiving a lot of attention in the British media.
The BBC’s top released a timeline on Tuesday about how the complaint has been handled. On May 18, a family tried to lodge a complaint at a BBC building. That was not possible. A day later there was telephone contact with the public service. According to the BBC, the complaint formulated there was not something “illegal” but of a “very serious nature”. A BBC department that investigates complaints attempted to telephone the complainant again on 6 June, but no contact was made. Just last Thursday, after The Sun questions, the complaint was further examined and a meeting was held with the presenter. BBC director Tim Davie said lessons now need to be learned as to whether this procedure is correct and whether the right thing to do in this case was done. In his defence, Davie added that the BBC receives 250 serious complaints in six months.
Questions about The Sun
About the method of The Sun many questions are now being asked in other media. Could the newspaper tell the story so emphatically without having spoken to the youngster itself? And shouldn’t they have printed the statement that the youngster passed on Friday night The Sun has sent? He allegedly then let it be known that what the parents claim is “not true.” The Sun responds so far summarily and stands behind the parents’ story. “We have seen evidence that supports their concerns.” The Guardian managed to report on Monday evening based on anonymous sources that within the editorial board of The Sun “growing nervousness” about how this story was told.
It is still unclear how long the police will investigate and whether charges will be brought.