The BBC has suspended a presenter over allegations he paid a teenager for sexually explicit images.
It comes after BBC director-general Tim Davie said the corporation was "investigating swiftly and sensitively", according to the Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer.
In a statement confirming the unnamed presenter has now been suspended, the BBC said: "The BBC takes any allegations seriously and we have robust internal processes in place to proactively deal with such allegations.
“This is a complex and fast moving set of circumstances and the BBC is working as quickly as possible to establish the facts in order to properly inform appropriate next steps.
“It is important that these matters are handled fairly and with care.
“We have been clear that if - at any point - new information comes to light or is provided to us, this will be acted upon appropriately and actively followed up."
The spokesman said the complaint was first made in May but new allegations have since come to light.
The statement continued: "New allegations were put to us on Thursday of a different nature and in addition to our own enquiries we have also been in touch with external authorities, in line with our protocols.
“We can also confirm a male member of staff has been suspended.
“We expect to be in a position to provide a further update in the coming days as the process continues. The BBC Board will continue to be kept up to date.”
Culture Secretary Ms Frazer described the allegations, first reported by The Sun, as "deeply concerning" and said the broadcaster now needs to be given space to investigate the matter and take appropriate action. Her comments come after the Culture Secretary urgently spoke to Mr Davie on Sunday as the BBC came under pressure over its handling of the complaint.
She tweeted: "I have spoken to BBC director-general Tim Davie about the deeply concerning allegations involving one of its presenters. He has assured me the BBC are investigating swiftly and sensitively."
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She added: "Given the nature of the allegations it is important that the BBC is now given the space to conduct its investigation, establish the facts and take appropriate action. I will be kept updated."
The newspaper said the BBC star paid the person, said to have been 17 at the time, £35,000 in exchange for the images.
A DCMS spokeswoman previously said: "These allegations are deeply concerning. As a public service broadcaster in receipt of public funding, senior officials have stressed to the BBC that the allegations must be investigated urgently and sensitively, with the department kept informed."
It is the latest crisis for Mr Davie to respond to after he survived calls to resign over his handling of Gary Lineker being briefly taken off air in March after the football pundit criticised Home Secretary Suella Braverman’s "cruel" asylum policy.
The teenager’s mother told The Sun she saw a picture of the presenter on her child’s phone "sitting on a sofa in his house in his underwear". The mother said she was told it was "a picture from some kind of video call" and looked like he was "getting ready for my child to perform for him".
The family were said to have complained to the BBC on May 19 but allegedly became frustrated that the star remained on air. It is understood he is not due to be on air in the near future.
The BBC has been urged to act "very swiftly" to deal with the claims.
Victoria Atkins, the financial secretary to the Treasury, told Sky’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme: "These are very, very serious allegations and the BBC have said they have processes in place. But as public attention and concern grows the BBC is going to have to act very swiftly to deal with these allegations and to set out what they are doing to investigate them."
Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves urged the broadcasters to "speed up their processes" in investigating such allegations, describing their response time as "not good enough" when she appeared on the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg.
Former home secretary Priti Patel said the BBC’s response has been "derisory", adding: "They must provide the victim and his family a full and transparent investigation. The BBC, which is funded by licence fee-payers, has become a faceless and unaccountable organisation."
Media lawyer Mark Stephens said the BBC handling of the complaint had been a "shambles", arguing it had "really dropped the ball".
"And it does seem that they’ve also caused this to escalate, because it was the frustration with the BBC not acting that led to the family to go to the Sun newspaper," he told Times Radio. And that I think is reckless, because of course what has happened is we’ve seen all this conjecture on social media."
