Parents of teen 'paid by BBC star for pics' contacted police in April

Police force confirms parents of teen ‘who was paid £35k by BBC presenter for explicit pics’ contacted them in April and ‘no criminality was identified’ – a month before complaint was made to the BBC

• The unnamed force also confirmed it had been in contact with the Met Police 

Police have confirmed the parents of a teenager who was allegedly paid £35,000 by a BBC star to send sexually explicit photos contacted them in April.

An unnamed force revealed today that ‘no criminality was identified’ after it looked into claims made by the parents of the young person at the centre of the sex pics scandal.

In a statement given to the BBC the force revealed it was contacted by the teens mother and step-father in April, a month before they complained to the corporation.

The step-father claimed last night he had been told by police ‘they couldn’t do anything as they said it wasn’t illegal’ as they stood by the claims hours after the young person called the allegations ‘rubbish’.

The force added that it has met with the Metropolitan Police and the BBC, and ‘as a result of recent developments, further enquiries are ongoing to establish whether there is evidence of a criminal offence.’

The unnamed force confirmed it has met with both the Metropolitan Police, headed by Sir Mark Rowley (right), and the BBC, headed by Tim Davie (left) 

Police have confirmed they were contacted by the parents of a teen about the alleged behaviour of a BBC presenter in April. Pictured: A file image of BBC Broadcasting House in London 

It comes as new allegations came to light today surrounding the unnamed male presenter, with one person claiming he sent abusive and menacing messages to them after meeting on a dating app.

The new individual claims to have been contacted anonymously by the male presenter on a dating app.

They claim they were put under pressure to meet with the star but never did, the BBC reported.

READ MORE HERE – Bombshell new claims about BBC star at centre of ‘£35k sex pics’ scandal: Presenter ‘sent abusive and menacing messages to second young person who threatened to name him after they met on dating app’ 

When they hinted online that they might name them, they allege they were sent abusive messages that were filled with expletives.

The new claims raise further questions about the star’s conduct less than a week after The Sun newspaper reported allegations that he paid a teenager £35,000 for sexually explicit pictures, starting when they were 17.

Last night the scandal took a dramatic twist as the young person at the heart of the row and their parents disputed each other’s accounts.

After days of silence the teenager themselves came out to refute the accusations, insisting through their lawyer that nothing inappropriate or unlawful had taken place, calling them ‘rubbish’.

In a letter reported by BBC News At Six, the young person said via a lawyer: ‘For the avoidance of doubt, nothing inappropriate or unlawful has taken place between our client and the BBC personality and the allegations reported in The Sun newspaper are ‘rubbish’.’

The waters were muddied further when their parents spoke out only hours later to confirm they stood by their claims, adding they felt the presenter involved had ‘got into their [child’s] head’.

Speaking to The Sun, the mother said: ‘It is sad but we stand by our account and we hope they get the help they need.

‘We did this to help – and the presenter has got into their head. How did they afford a lawyer?

‘We are so sad.’

The step-father added: ‘We are disappointed they made a statement. It’s not true.’

The corporation earlier said it had been investigating a complaint since May, and that new claims of a ‘different nature’ were brought to it on Thursday.

But the step-father disputed this, telling the Sun that the corporation was ‘not telling the truth’.

‘I told them the youngster was 20 and it had been going on for three years.’

He added: ‘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.’

He also said the money did not stop, adding: ‘I don’t even think they spoke to him.’

The BBC say they did call the family in June, but nobody picked up.

A young person has told BBC News they felt threatened by the BBC presenter at the centre of a row over payment for sexually explicit photos

He added that he only wanted the BBC to stop so the teen would stop getting drugs.

He said: ‘Without the money, my partner’s child would have no drugs.’

BBC Director General Tim Davie today denied it is ‘odd’ that he is yet to speak to the star, as new allegations came out about the presenter’s behaviour.

According to the BBC, the conversation between the person in their 20s and the presenter moved onto other platforms after beginning on a dating app.

The presenter then revealed his identity and asked the young person not to tell anyone.

The young person later posted online alluding to having had contact with a BBC presenter and hinting they might name him.

The presenter then sent a number of ‘threatening messages’ which the BBC says it has seen and confirmed came from a phone number belonging to the presenter.

The BBC said the young person felt ‘threatened’ by the messages and ‘remain scared’.

BBC News said it had contacted the presenter via his lawyer but had received no response to the allegations.

Earlier today, Mr Davie also suggested the privacy of the star was a consideration in why the corporation did not speak to the household name until almost two months after they first received a complaint from the teenager’s family.

He defended the seven-week delay between the initial complaint and confronting the presenter, insisting that the claims had to be verified first before being put to staff.

But he admitted it was ‘fair’ to question why the ‘very serious’ complaint was only followed up by a single call and email to the teenager’s parents.

Asked if it was ‘odd’ that that he himself has not chatted to the presenter, Davie replied: ‘No’, adding: ‘I think it is critical they are spoken to by a very senior manager’.

He was also asked if he knew ‘categorically’ whether or not the star paid for the alleged victim’s lawyer.

He said: ‘That’s not information I am party to. I don’t even think that’s something for the BBC.’

But he did admit that the scandal had been ‘clearly damaging’ to the corporation’s reputation.

‘The BBC is often in the midst of quite painful and difficult affairs and storms,’ he said before adding: ‘These are clearly damaging to the BBC it, is not a good situation.’

In a major update on the case, Mr Davie also said he had ‘paused’ their internal investigation while the police consider if any crimes have been committed after a meeting with Scotland Yard yesterday.

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