A star presenter with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has been accused of paying a teenager for sexually explicit photographs, beginning when they were 17.
Although the name of the presenter is not mentioned, The Sun reported that he paid the alleged victim tens of thousands of pounds.
It was gathered that BBC is looking into the allegations, and that the star has already been barred feom being on air in the coming days.
According to the Sun, the young person’s family complained to the BBC on 19 May after they became frustrated that the star remained on air and approached the newspaper, but said they wanted no payment for the story.
The victims mother disclosed to newsmen that the paper the anonymous individual, now aged 20, had used the money from the presenter to fund a crack cocaine habit.
She expressed dismay at how her described her child had gone from a “happy-go-lucky youngster to a ghost-like crack addict” in three years.
Meanwhile, after the report, a number of the BBC’s high-profiled presenters have taken to social media to deny they are the presenter in question.
Reacting to the development, Broadcaster Rylan Clark tweeted in Saturday that he was not the presenter, saying “that ain’t me babe” and adding that he is filming in Italy for a BBC programme.
Also, BBC Radio 2 presenter Jeremy Vine has also distanced himself from the Sun story, saying the allegations are not about him.
Vine wrote: “Just to say I’m very much looking forward to hosting my radio show on Monday — whoever the ‘BBC Presenter’ in the news is, I have the same message for you as Rylan did earlier: it certainly ain’t me.”
In the same vein, Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker did not mention the allegations specifically, but writing on Twitter later on Saturday evening he said: “Hate to disappoint the haters but it’s not me.”
Nicky Campbell tweeted that he has reported an anonymous Twitter account to the police over a post claiming he was the presenter.
“I think it’s important to take a stand. There’s just too many of these people on social media. Thanks for your support friends,” he said.
Meanwhile, BBC has said the information would be “acted upon appropriately”.
Spokesperson of the Corporation 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.”
BBC’s culture editor Katie Razzall said many questions remain unanswered, including how the corporation has investigated the family’s complaint and if it was appropriate for the presenter, who has not been named, to stay on air after a serious allegation was made.
The BBC’s statement appears to suggest its initial investigation may have been hampered by a lack of response from the family, she said.
This allegation, if proven, would mean the career of a high-profile BBC presenter is likely to be over, he emphasized.