BBC’s timeline of presenter ‘sex pics’ scandal revealed as boss Tim Davie admits he STILL hasn’t spoken to star
THE BBC has today released a timeline over its handling of the alleged sex picture scandal involving one of its presenters and a teen.
Director-general Tim Davie released the corporation’s version of events as he also admitted he is yet to speak to the well-known man.
Their timeline mirrors the youngster’s stepdad’s complaint that his bombshell claims were ignored for seven weeks.
He and the troubled youngster’s mum both allege the presenter paid thousands to the teen, who sent the star sex pics.
This is how the scandal unfolded, according to the BBC.
May 18
The complainant, a family member, attended a BBC building, with the aim of making a complaint about the behaviour of a presenter.
May 19
That relative then contacted BBC Audience Services and the details of this contact were referred to the Corporate Investigations Team.
This department then assessed the claim and found although it was not criminal in nature, it warranted further investigation.
The BBC’s Corporate Investigations Team emailed the complainant to seek additional information to verify the claims being made but there was no response.
Checks were also made to verify the identity of the complainant. The BBC said this is a standard procedure to confirm that the complainant is the person they say they are.
June 6
After receiving no response to the email, a phone call was made to number provided by the family member but it did not connect.
This led the Corporate Investigations Team to decided to return to the matter in the coming weeks.
No additional attempts to contact the complainant were made after June 6, however the case remained open throughout.
July 6
The Sun contacted the BBC via their press office to report the allegations surrounding the presenter.
The BBC says it became clear that the source of the claims was from the same family as approached the BBC on May 18 and May 19.
This was the first time Mr Davie and other executive directors became aware of the case.
The broadcaster claims the allegations made by The Sun contained fresh information that was not being investigated by the Corporate Investigations team.
The BBC initiated an incident management group involving senior BBC executives including the director-general to lead the response.
The acting chairman was updated, and the board was regularly updated in the coming days, the corporation said.
The presenter was then spoken to for the first time to make him aware of the claims.
It was agreed the presenter would be taken off air while the probe continued.
July 7
Following The Sun’s contact, the BBC’s Corporate Investigations team contacted the complainant again, who was in touch with the BBC’s investigators.
The BBC’s Serious Case Management Framework (SCMF) was initiated and the investigation being undertaken by the Corporate Investigations Team was brought into the SCMF, which is chaired by a human resources director.
The BBC also made contact with the police.
July 8
The family member sent the BBC some materials related to their allegations.
July 9
More materials were sent and the BBC issued an update to staff and the media.
They also confirmed the presenter had been suspended.
July 10
The BBC met with the police to report the matter and discuss how to progress the investigation.
The young person’s lawyer released a statement saying nothing inappropriate or unlawful happened.
The Sun spoke to the youngster’s mum and stepdad, who questioned how they had a lawyer and accused the BBC of “not telling the truth”.
July 11
Mr Davie reveals the Met Police have told them to pause their own investigation.
This is while “the police scope future work” following a meeting with the Beeb yesterday over the allegations.
Speaking on Radio 4, the chief also admitted he has not spoken to the accused presenter.
He also branded the situation “difficult and complex” and said the allegations are “clearly damaging”.