BBC presenter ‘appeared in underwear on video call’ with teenager
A
BBC presenter on the centre of claims he paid an adolescent for specific photos allegedly appeared in his underwear sitting on a settee in his dwelling in a video name, The Sun has reported.
The newspaper stated the unnamed BBC star has been accused of paying an adolescent greater than £35,000 in trade for sexual photographs.
Neither the person or {the teenager}, who was stated to be 17 when the funds started, was recognized.
The younger particular person’s mom advised The Sun she noticed an image of the presenter on her youngster’s cellphone by which he was “sitting on a sofa in his house in his underwear” and he or she stated she was advised it was “a picture from some kind of video call”.
The Sun stated {the teenager}’s household complained to the BBC on May 19.
The BBC reported on the story in its news bulletins all through Saturday.
On the News at Ten offered by Clive Myrie, particular correspondent Lucy Manning stated: “I think this is very serious for the BBC, let’s make no bones about this.
“The understanding is the presenter isn’t due on air in the near future, but we haven’t been told, and we have asked, we haven’t been told by the BBC whether there has or hasn’t been a formal suspension.
“The BBC will need to answer if the investigation should have happened sooner, if it should have been more thorough, and if it’s fair to other presenters unconnected to this that their names are now sort of in the headlines.”
Ms Manning stated she thinks this “really does have the potential to severely dent the BBC’s reputation”.
The Sun reported that whereas the presenter is off air, he has not been suspended.
Dame Caroline Dinenage, senior Conservative MP and chair of the Culture, Media and Sport committee, stated: “It’s vital that TV companies have in place the right systems and processes to ensure their stars, who have disproportionate power and influence over the lives and careers of others, don’t abuse it.”
Adding: “Clearly the BBC now has some questions to answer. There is pressure on their HR department to investigate these latest claims quickly and explain what has happened since this story first came to light back in May.”
On Saturday, amidst hypothesis on social media, a variety of BBC stars tweeted to say they weren’t the presenter on the centre of The Sun story.
Nicky Campbell appeared to recommend he had contacted police about being talked about in reference to the story.
He tweeted a screenshot which featured the Metropolitan Police emblem and the phrases: “Thank you for contacting the Metropolitan Police Service to report your crime.”
In his tweet, he wrote: “I think it’s important to take a stand. There’s just too many of these people on social media. Thanks for your support friends.”
A BBC spokesperson stated: “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.”