Questions BBC must answer over presenter accused of paying for explicit photos

The BBC “clearly has questions to answer” after one of its presenters was accused of paying a teenager for explicit photographs, a senior Conservative MP has said.

The young person’s mother said that while she complained to the BBC on 19 May, it was “obvious” to her that the corporation had not spoken to the man by the following month.

BBC star allegations ‘deeply concerning’ – live updates

The presenter is said to have first requested images in 2020 when the teenager was 17, and has allegedly made a series of payments since then.

The youth, who is now aged 20, used the money to fund a crack cocaine habit which “destroyed” their life, their mother has also claimed.

As the story leads many news websites including the BBC’s own, what are the questions it needs to answer?

• What did it do when the complaint was first made in May? Were standard HR protocols followed?

• Did it immediately try to contact the family? How many attempts were made to contact the family?

• What is the date when the presenter was first spoken to? Was the presenter spoken to after the initial complaint was made?

• Given there were concerns that the child’s life was in danger, was the BBC’s response satisfactory?

• Does it intend to investigate whether payments to the child continued after the family first contacted the BBC?

• Will it look into whether the presenter contacted the child from work, or during working hours?

• Is the licence fee payer contributing to the presenter’s mobile phone costs?

Read more:
Everything we know about BBC presenter claims

Mother’s plea to BBC bosses

In an interview with The Sun on Sunday, the young person’s mother said: “We just wanted the BBC to tell him to stop.”

Her child told her they had received a payment of £1,000 in June, the mother said.

Now 20, her child has used the man’s money to fuel a serious drug problem, she said.

She added: “Initially the security boss gave us a number that didn’t exist.”

Dame Caroline Dinenage, who chairs the Culture, Media and Sport committee, said she was concerned that the corporation had taken a “very long time” to investigate the claims.

Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, said the scandal was “deeply concerning”.

Asked about an alleged delay in investigating the complaint, Ms Reeves told Sky News: “I think that’s the concerning thing, that someone makes a complaint – a very serious complaint – and then puts on the telly the next night and they’re still there.

“And that’s not good enough.”

BBC takes allegations ‘very seriously’

A BBC spokesperson said: “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.”

They added: “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.”