It seems like the media giant BBC is getting into trouble slowly and steadily in the sensational case in which its star presenter was exposed for paying a teenager a whopping sum of money in return for her sexually explicit photos and videos. Although the BBC presenter paid the teenager for her explicit photos, the girl used the money she got to fulfill her cocaine addiction. The 'well-known' BBC journalist allegedly paid a whopping sum of £35,000 to the teenager. After the teenager's parents complaint to the BBC, the presenter was suspended and an internal inquiry was initiated against him. Notably, the BBC issued a statement and stated that they are in touch with the Police. However, a spokesperson of the Police stated that the they have not received any formal complaint from the BBC against the presenter. Now, parents of the teenager have accused BBC of lying and have stated that the media giant ignored their complaint for at least 7 weeks and finally took some action after a US media portal contacted them on the story.
As per The Sun, the family said they complained to the BBC hours after the presenter tried to meet the youngster at a train station. The stepdad of the teenager stated that he only wanted them to get the star to stop sending cash. "Without the money, my partner’s child would have no drugs,” said the teen's stepfather adding that he informed the BBC that he had screenshots of contact between their child and the star. "We put the allegations to them for an hour,” said the father adding that the presenter remained on air and was not even spoken to until The Sun contacted the BBC last week. The stepfather accused the BBC of lying after it said “new allegations” emerged, leading to the star’s suspension on Sunday.
"They’re not telling the truth. I told them the youngster was 20 and it had been going on for three years...I told the BBC I had gone to the police in desperation but they couldn’t do anything as they said it wasn’t illegal. They knew all of this," the step father added. Notably, the BBC in one of the reports stated that it tried to contact the family in June but they did not receive the call.
What BBC had said?
In the latest controversy, a 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."