The BBC has published its own account of the events leading to the suspension of a leading presenter, following allegations they had bought explicit photographs from a young person.
The Guardian has not been able to independently verify all of the claims, while the BBC said some details had been omitted to protect the privacy of the individuals involved.
• 18 May: The complainant (a family member) attended a BBC building, where they sought to make a complaint about the behaviour of a BBC presenter.
• 19 May: The complainant contacted BBC audience services; the details of this contact were referred to the BBC’s corporate investigations team.
The corporate investigations team assessed the information contained in the complaint provided by audience services. The assessment made was that on the basis of the information provided it did not include an allegation of criminality, but nonetheless merited further investigation.
On the same day, the corporate investigations team emailed the complainant stating how seriously the BBC took the issue and seeking additional information to verify the claims being made; there was no response to this contact.
Checks were also made to verify the identity of the complainant. This is a standard procedure to confirm that the complainant is the person they say they are.
• 6 June: Having received no response to the email referenced above, a phone call was made to the mobile number provided by the complainant to the BBC’s corporate investigations team; this call did not connect.
After these attempts to make contact with the complainant, the corporate investigations team were due to return to the matter in the coming weeks. No additional attempts to contact the complainant were made after 6 June; however, the case remained open throughout.
• 6 July: The Sun newspaper informed the BBC, via the corporate press office, of allegations concerning a BBC presenter; it became clear that the source of the claims was from the same family that approached the BBC on 18 and 19 May. This was the first time that the director-general or any executive directors at the BBC were aware of the case.
The claims made by the Sun contained new allegations, that were different to the matters being considered by corporate investigations.
The BBC initiated an incident management group to lead the response to the case, involving senior BBC executives including the director-general. The acting chair was updated, and the board was regularly updated in the coming days.
The same day, a senior manager held the first conversation on this matter with the presenter concerned, to make him aware of the claims being outlined by the Sun. It was agreed that the presenter would not be on air while the matter was being considered.
• 7 July: After the Sun’s contact, the corporate investigations team contacted the complainant again, who was in touch with the BBC’s investigators.
The BBC’s serious case management framework (SCMF) was initiated and the investigation being undertaken by the corporate investigations team was brought into the SCMF, which is chaired by a human resources director.
The BBC also made contact with the police with regard to this matter.
• 8-9 July: The complainant sent the BBC some materials related to the complaint.
The BBC issued an update to staff and the media; the broadcaster also confirmed that it had suspended the presenter.
• 10 July: The BBC met with the police, to report the matter and discuss how to progress the investigation. The police have requested that the BBC pause its investigations into the allegations while they scope future work.
