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The BBC has suspended its internal investigations into allegations that a top presenter paid a teenager for sexually explicit images while the police decide whether to pursue a criminal case.
In his first public appearance since the crisis broke over the weekend, BBC director-general Tim Davie admitted on Tuesday that there were “clearly going to be [lessons]” after ordering a review of how and when complaints were “red flagged” at the broadcaster.
The Metropolitan Police are still considering whether to launch an investigation into the allegations, which The Sun newspaper first published on Friday evening.
Davie said that “as a result of this, the BBC has been asked to pause its own investigations into the allegations while they scope future work”, adding he believed that the broadcaster was navigating a “complex and difficult situation . . . responsibly and judiciously”.
The Met did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Interim BBC chair Dame Elan Closs Stephens, who took over after Richard Sharp stood down last month over a scandal involving a loan to Boris Johnson, said on Tuesday that the board was satisfied that Davie had acted “swiftly but with appropriate duty of care”.
The BBC, which has been attacked over its handling of the allegations, also published details of the events leading to the suspension of the presenter last weekend.
According to the BBC’s timeline, its initial attempts to talk to the young person’s family following their complaint in May were unsuccessful.
The broadcaster added that Davie and the board were only informed about the allegations on Thursday — the same day it first talked to the presenter about the matter and decided to take him off the air.
Davie said that the family originally approached the BBC via a visit to its offices and then through contact with its audience services team, lodging a “serious complaint” that was immediately passed to its investigations team.
That team judged the complaint as serious enough to be taken further but said there was no allegation of criminality at the time and more consultation with the individual was required.
Davie said he had not personally spoken with the presenter. He declined to comment on questions over whether there was any blackmail involved in the case, nor what the next steps were likely to be, adding that it was important for the “police to do their work”.
Davie admitted that the situation was “serious in terms of the BBC’s reputation” but said it was “too early to say” how the scandal would impact public trust in the institution.
The male BBC presenter was suspended on Sunday following allegations of spending tens of thousands of pounds on the images from a young person who was allegedly 17 years old when the first payment was made.
The BBC’s handling of the latest crisis has sparked anger in the corporation’s newsroom, with some demanding greater transparency, and attacks by politicians over the failure to more fully investigate the original complaint. BBC stars such as Gary Lineker have been forced to deny any involvement.
The crisis around the BBC took an unexpected twist on Monday night when Child and Child, a law firm representing the young person, contacted the BBC to say that the allegations made by the parents in The Sun were “rubbish”.
In a statement, the law firm said The Sun had received the denial ahead of publishing its original story, and that “nothing inappropriate or unlawful” had happened between the young person and the “BBC personality”.
On Monday night, young person’s the family stuck to its story. A spokesperson for The Sun said it reported “a story about two very concerned parents who made a complaint to the BBC about the behaviour of a presenter and the welfare of their child . . . we have seen evidence that supports their concerns”.
The BBC fell into a group deficit this year, according to the annual report published on Tuesday, losing £120mn compared with a surplus of £206mn last year.
