THE BBC’s director-general Tim Davie has provided an update as the scandal surrounding an unnamed presenter continues.
Speaking to the press after the release of the BBC’s annual report on its highest earners, he said it was a “complex and difficult situation”.
“We need to manage a number of factors – properly responding to serious allegations, sensitively managing duty of care issues, appropriately respecting the privacy of individuals and justified public interest," he said.
The BBC boss further said that the corporation had paused its own internal probe at the request of police.
His statement comes after a lawyer representing the young person who reportedly sold pictures to a "household name" BBC host hit out at the reports which first surfaced in the Sun on Friday.
A male member of BBC staff was suspended following claims that he paid a young person around £35,000 over three years for explicit images.
In response, The Sun said: "We have reported a story about two very concerned parents who made a complaint to the BBC about the behaviour of a presenter and the welfare of their child. Their complaint was not acted upon by the BBC.
"We have seen evidence that supports their concerns. It's now for the BBC to properly investigate."
Davie continued: “As you know, the BBC Corporate Investigations Team had a meeting with the police in relation to the information provided to the BBC by the Sun newspaper on Thursday July 6.
“As a result of this the BBC has been asked to pause its own investigation into the allegations while they scope future work. We will pass any material that we have to them.
“We know that questions have been asked how this case was initially managed and the timeline of events, so today we have published an update that sets out key dates and further detail.
“The BBC has processes and protocols for receiving information and managing allegations when they are made. We always take these matters seriously and seek to manage them with care."
He added that recent events have “shown how complex and challenging these kinds of cases can be and how vital it is they are handled with the upmost diligence”.
“That is why it is important that we ensure these processes are robust and working appropriately. Of course there will be lessons to be learnt, and how processes could be improved.
“Immediately, I have asked that we assess how some complaints are red flagged up to the organisation.
“We will take time to properly review the current protocols and procedures to ensure they remain sufficient based on anything we learn from this case.
“The work will be led by our chief operating officer Leigh Tavaziva who will report to the BBC board.”
Meanwhile, Downing Street has denied that the Prime Minister (below) is trying to avoid finding out who the suspended presenter is in order to evade questions.
When this was put to Rishi Sunak's official spokesperson, he told reporters: “I wouldn’t characterise it like that.
“I mean, the Prime Minister is at the Nato summit and yesterday had the president of the United States here, so obviously his time is taken up with those issues.
“It’s for the BBC and others to look into this one.”
