A BBC news presenter had allegedly paid thousands of dollars to a teenager in exchange of nude photographs, according to a report by UK-based daily The Sun. It is also reported that the teenager used that money to purchase drugs which led to addiction to cocaine.
BBC has informed that the presenter in question has been suspended, without revealing the identity.
According to the report, a male news presenter paid the young person to the tune of $45,000 in 2020 when the youth was 17.
Following the report, British politicians called on the publicly-funded national broadcaster to investigate the claims. So far, neither the presenter nor the youth has been identified. However, several well-known BBC presenters clarified that it wasn't them after people on social media started speculating.
The mother of the victim claimed that she had complained to the BBC about the issue on May. Frustration of the victim's family grew as they saw the presenter remained on-air even after a month of the complaint. As a result, the broadcaster took the presenter off-air.
“The BBC first became aware of a complaint in May. 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," the broadcaster said in a statement.
{{/usCountry}}“The BBC first became aware of a complaint in May. 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," the broadcaster said in a statement.
{{/usCountry}}Notably, the age of sexual consent in the UK is 16, however, possessing indecent images of anyone under 18 is considered a crime in the country.
“We treat any allegations very seriously and we have processes in place to proactively deal with them…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,” the statement said.
The mother revealed a distressing incident about a time when she overheard her child being reprimanded by the presenter, saying, “I told you not to f***ing ring me.”
She also revealed how her child turned from a ‘happy-go-lucky’ individual to a ‘ghost-like crack addict' within three years as an impact of this ordeal.