BBC Crisis Grows as Staff Member Is Accused of Abuse by 2nd Person

A disaster on the BBC over the conduct of a senior employees member deepened on Tuesday with a report {that a} second individual had come ahead with allegations that the unnamed male employees member had despatched indignant and abusive messages to the individual by way of a courting app.

The BBC reported that the younger individual, whom it didn’t establish, felt threatened by “abusive, expletive-filled messages,” which adopted unsuccessful efforts by the employees member to satisfy with this individual and the individual’s subsequent suggestion about presumably publicly naming him.

The identical employees member confronted allegations of paying tens of hundreds of kilos to a unique younger individual in exchange for sexually explicit photographs. The BBC stated it had paused its investigation into these accusations on the request of the Metropolitan Police, which was additionally trying into the matter.

With the allegations piling up, however with many questions nonetheless unanswered, the BBC seemed to be below siege. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, on his option to a NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, stated the stories of funds by the employees member had been “stunning and regarding” and referred to as for a swift, vigorous investigation.

The BBC’s director basic, Tim Davie, additionally confronted rising strain to clarify why the company had waited seven weeks after the preliminary grievance was lodged in Might in regards to the broadcaster’s habits earlier than confronting him or taking different motion. On Sunday, the BBC stated it had suspended the employees member and referred to as within the police.

Mr. Davie stated the preliminary allegations, made by the mom of {the teenager} stated to have been paid for specific images, had been taken very critically by the BBC, although there was a question about whether there had been any criminal conduct.

However the complaints weren’t relayed to him or different high BBC managers till late final week, he stated, after they had been about to be reported by a London tabloid, The Solar. He stated he had not but spoken to the employees member.

The brand new allegation was reported by the BBC’s personal reporters on Tuesday afternoon. They stated they’d reviewed the messages on the individual’s telephone and verified that they got here from a telephone belonging to the employees member. The BBC stated it had not been capable of attain the employees member or his lawyer for a remark.

Mr. Davie acknowledged that the lurid allegations had tarnished the popularity of Britain’s public broadcaster, which has already discovered itself repeatedly within the political cross-hairs over the actions and statements of its on-air personalities.

“These are clearly damaging to the BBC,” Mr. Davie stated in an interview with BBC Radio 4. “It’s not an excellent state of affairs.”

The BBC described the suspended employees member because the equal of a information anchor, the host of a information present or different on-air persona. Though the BBC has not disclosed the individual’s id, that has not stopped rampant hypothesis on-line, which has pressured different BBC figures to take to social media to disclaim that they had been the goal of the allegations.

Among the many questions swirling across the BBC are the reliability of The Solar’s report that the employees member paid {the teenager} greater than £35,000, or virtually $45,000, for specific photos over a interval of a number of years that started when the individual was 17.

Below British legislation, the age of consent is 16, however it’s a crime to take, make, share or possess indecent photos of anybody below 18.

On Monday, the BBC reported {that a} lawyer for {the teenager} stated in a letter to the broadcaster that the allegations in The Sun had been “garbage,” suggesting there was a rift between {the teenager} and {the teenager}’s dad and mom.

The lawyer for {the teenager} stated that “nothing inappropriate or illegal has taken place between our shopper and the BBC persona,” based on the broadcaster. Its reporters didn’t establish the lawyer, and Mr. Davie stated on Tuesday that he didn’t know if the employees member was paying the authorized charges for the younger individual.

The Solar, owned by Rupert Murdoch, has stood by its story, accusing the BBC of suggesting that it was the fault of {the teenager}’s dad and mom for not understanding how prolonged the method of coping with complaints might be.

“Their grievance was not acted upon by the BBC,” a spokeswoman for The Solar stated on Monday. “We’ve got seen proof that helps their considerations. It’s now for the BBC to correctly examine.”