On Saturday, the world went into shock after it was reported that a well-known journalist at BBC has been fired by the corporation after he was accused of paying a 17-year-old for her sexually explicit pictures. As per US media reports, the 'well-known' BBC journalist allegedly paid a whopping sum of £35,000 to the teenager in order to continuously get her explicit pictures. The girl, on the other hand, complied with the journalist and used the money she received from him to fulfill her cocaine addiction. After the teenager's parents complaint to the BBC, the presenter was fired and an internal inquiry was initiated against him. Now, it has been reported that despite the complaint by the teenagers' parents to BBC, the media corporation has not forwarded the matter to the Police authorities. As per the latest development, the BBC in its statement said that it has been in touch with police, however, it has not forwarded the matter to them as their own internal inquiry is going on.
BBC in a statement further stated that it understands the sensitivity of the matter and therefore the corporation is meeting with the Metropolitan Police on Monday to discuss the matter. Police said the BBC was in contact but no formal allegation has yet been made. As per the report in a prominent US media daily which exposed the BBC presenter, he made two "panicked calls" to teenager after the breaking news. Further, the suspended BBC presenter allegedly asked the teenager "what have you done" and asked them to ring their mother to get her to "stop the investigation". It is pertinent to mention here that neither the US media nor the BBC have revealed the presenter's name to the public as internal investigation is going on.
BBC Journalist teenager pic controversy
The mother of the teenager has slammed the BBC Channel and stated that she felt sick whenever she saw the man on BBC shows. "When I see him on telly, I feel sick...I blame this BBC man for destroying my child’s life....Taking my child’s innocence and handing over the money for crack cocaine that could kill my child,” said the teen's mother.
Who is the BBC presenter? 'Well-known' journalist fired for paying a teen for explicit photos
On the latest controversy, BBC spokesperson was also quoted by a US media portal. 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."