The BBC has suspended a male member of staff following an allegation that one of its star presenters paid a teenager thousands of pounds to pose for sexually explicit photos, beginning when they were 17 years old.<\/p>\n
The broadcaster said it first became aware of a complaint in May, but new allegations of a different nature were made to it on Thursday, and it had informed “external authorities”.<\/p>\n
London’s Metropolitan Police said it had received initial contact from the BBC but no formal referral or allegation had been made.<\/p>\n
“We will require additional information before determining what further action should follow,” it said in a statement.<\/p>\n
The BBC said it was a “complex and fast moving set of circumstances” and it was “working as quickly as possible to establish the facts in order to properly inform appropriate next steps”.<\/p>\n
“We can also confirm a male member of staff has been suspended,” it said in a statement.<\/p>\n
The statement said “it is important that these matters are handled fairly and with care”, without giving details on the claims.<\/p>\n
The Sun\u00a0<\/i>newspaper, which first reported the allegations, cited the young person’s mother as saying the unnamed male presenter had paid the teenager more than \u00a335,000 ($NZ72,000) over three years for the images.<\/p>\n
The mother told the newspaper that the teenager had used the cash to fund a crack cocaine habit.<\/p>\n
The family complained to the broadcaster on 19 May, but the presenter was not immediately taken off air, according to the\u00a0Sun<\/i>, which said the family had not requested payment for their story.<\/p>\n
Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer held urgent talks with the broadcaster’s director general, Tim Davie, earlier on Sunday about the allegations, which she described as “deeply concerning”.<\/p>\n
“[Davie] has assured me the BBC are investigating swiftly and sensitively,” she said on Twitter.<\/p>\n
“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.”<\/p>\n
The BBC, which is funded by a licence fee paid by every TV watching household, said it “takes any allegations seriously” and had “robust internal processes in place to proactively deal with such allegations”.<\/p>\n
“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,” it said.<\/p>\n
Source: RNZ<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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