The BBC is taking allegations “very seriously” that one of its “well-known” presenters paid a teenager tens thousands of pounds in exchange for sexually explicit images, the broadcaster said.
According to a report from The Sun that was published on Friday, July 7, the unnamed “well-known” male presenter is alleged to have paid more than £35,000 (AUD$67,177) for the sexually explicit images.
The mother of the alleged victim told the tabloid the payments began when her child was 17, and they used the money to buy drugs.
“When I see him on telly, I feel sick,” she said.
“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.”
According to The Sun, the family complained to the BBC on May 19, begging them to make the presenter “stop sending the cash”.
The day after the initial report was published, the mother told The Sun the presenter allegedly stripped to his underwear while on a video call.
“I loved watching him on TV. So I was shocked to see a picture of him sitting on a sofa in his house in his underwear,” she alleged.
“I immediately recognised him. He was leaning forward getting ready for my child to perform for him.
“My child told me, ‘I have shown things’ and this was a picture from some kind of video call.”
The mother claimed her child, who is now 20, showed her an online bank statement which had numerous deposits from the presenter.
“There were huge sums, hundreds, or thousands of pounds at a time,” she alleged.
“One time he had sent £5,000 (AUD$9,597) in one lump. The money had been in exchange for sexually explicit photographs of my child.”
The BBC issued a statement in response to the allegations on Friday.
“We treat any allegations very seriously and we have processes in place to proactively deal with them,” a BBC spokesperson said.
“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.”
After the report was published, several BBC presenters, such as Rylan Clark and Jeremy Vine, released statements to Twitter denying they were the unnamed presenter.
Image credit: James Manning / PA Images via Getty Images
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