LONDON: A star BBC presenter has been taken off the air following accusations of paying a teenager a substantial sum of money in exchange for explicit photographs.
The mother of the alleged victim revealed that the funds, totalling over £35,000, were purportedly utilised to sustain a cocaine addiction that has had a devastating impact on her child’s life.
The family reported the incident to the BBC on May 19th, urgently requesting that the broadcaster intervene and put a halt to the presenter’s financial transactions.
According to The Sun, both the accused individual and the teenager, who was reportedly 17 years old when the payments commenced, remain unnamed.
The BBC acknowledged the severity of the allegations and affirmed its commitment to treating them with the utmost seriousness.
As a result, the presenter has been suspended pending further investigation.
Responding to The Sun’s report, 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.
“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.” Reuters
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