The mother of the teenager who allegedly sent sexually explicit photos to an unnamed BBC presenter in exchange for large amounts of money has shared the bold move that revealed his identity.
The broadcasting corporation has been thrown into disrepute after claims that one of its staff members, who is said to be on a six-figure salary, paid a teenager £35,000 for nude photos.
The mother of the alleged victim, who was just 17 when the requests began, has publicly expressed her anger and disgust after recognising a picture of the television star "in his underwear".
She has revealed how she "instantly recognised" the famous host, as he openly showed his face during the video call exchange in his boxers with her child that was screenshotted and shown to her.
The mum of the recipient told The Sun : "I was shocked to see a picture of him sitting on a sofa in his house in his underwear. 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."
She claims the household name never hid his identity and even sent pictures of himself at work. The mum claims she raised concerns with the BBC in May after the man sent £5,000 in one transaction for sexual photos of her youngster.
She said no one from the corporation rang her for a proper interview after the initial complaint. The family alleged that the presenter handed over thousands in several transactions, which has enabled the child to feed their crack cocaine addiction.
The BBC reports that the presenter has been suspended and is not scheduled to be on air in the next few days. The company is meeting with the Metropolitan Police today to "discuss the matter".
In response to the original allegations, a BBC spokesperson told the Mirror: "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."
