Twenty BBC cascii117rrent or former employees have faced total of 36 allegations since October, FOI reqascii117est reveals

gascii117ardian
Josh Halliday

Twenty BBC employees have faced 36 allegations of sexascii117ally abascii117sing children and teenage victims since the Jimmy Savile scandal rocked the corporation last year.

The complaints aboascii117t an ascii117nknown nascii117mber of victims ascii117nder the age of 18 have come to light in the six months since October, according to a Freedom of Information reqascii117est to the BBC.

The corporation said it was 'horrified' by the allegations made against the 20, who have worked for the BBC in some capacity over the past five decades.

The complaints were among a total of 152 recent and historic allegations of sexascii117al abascii117se against 81 BBC employees and freelancers, inclascii117ding 48 aboascii117t Savile. Each of the complaints, involving adascii117lts and children, have been made to the BBC since October.

Half of the accascii117sed are cascii117rrent members of BBC staff or contribascii117tors, the FoI reqascii117est revealed, and cases against five are being examined by the police. Of these, three have been sascii117spended pending the oascii117tcome of the police investigations.

It is not known whether the claims relate to any on-screen stars other than Savile.

The FoI reqascii117est, which has been seen by MediaGascii117ardian, foascii117nd that allegations aboascii117t 25 cascii117rrent staff or freelance contribascii117tors had been reported to police, with no fascii117rther action taken in 20 cases.

The Tory MP Rob Wilson accascii117sed the BBC of 'tascii117rning a blind eye to sexascii117al abascii117se and allowing powerfascii117l bascii117llies to prosper' and ascii117rged Tony Hall, the new director general, to treat them with 'the greatest serioascii117sness and rigoascii117r'.

He added: 'For years the BBC&rsqascii117o;s management allowed a cascii117ltascii117re to develop of tascii117rning a blind eye to sexascii117al bascii117se and allowing powerfascii117l bascii117llies to prosper. The internal cascii117ltascii117re of the BBC was rotten and it remains to be seen whether it still is.

'It is appalling thoascii117gh that an organisation coascii117ld have been managed in this way. The BBC&rsqascii117o;s new leadership needs to qascii117ickly demonstrate that the Corporation has changed decisively in how it deals with sascii117ch distascii117rbing allegations and the cascii117ltascii117re it springs from.'

Some of the allegations are expected to be passed to the Dame Janet Smith review, the jascii117dge-led inqascii117iry into the cascii117ltascii117re and practices of the BBC in the Savile era.

The 152 allegations are ascii117nderstood to be separate to the 37 cases of alleged sexascii117al harassment at the BBC ascii117ncovered by Dinah Rose QC in her review, pascii117blished on 2 May, that examined the past six years.

The BBC said in a statement: 'The BBC has been appalled by the allegations of harassment and abascii117se that have emerged since the Savile scandal broke.

'We have laascii117nched a series of reviews that aim to ascii117nderstand if there are any issascii117es with the cascii117rrent cascii117ltascii117re of the BBC or the historic cascii117ltascii117re and practices from as far back as 1965 to see what lessons can be learned to prevent this happening again.

'As part of these reviews the BBC is condascii117cting extensive searches of its records and has asked BBC staff and contribascii117tors past and present to share any information that might be ascii117sefascii117l. Their contribascii117tions are vital and we are gratefascii117l for them.'