Claims BBC presenter facing explicit photos allegations ‘broke lockdown rules’

The newspaper said it has seen messages which suggest the presenter travelled to see the young person in February 2021, after meeting them on a dating website the previous November.

The 23-year-old told the Sun the presenter travelled from London to a different county to meet them at their flat, when strict coronavirus lockdown rules were in place including a stay at home order and mixing only between household bubbles.

The young person told the newspaper: “He came round for an hour…. We just chatted. He was obsessed with me making him a cup of tea.”

They said the presenter also gave them more than £600 in three payments, which the newspaper said messages also suggest.

The 23-year-old also claimed the presenter asked if next week was good to meet on December 18 2020, when restrictions meant a ban on households mixing indoors.

However, the young person claims he made “excuses not to meet him” until two months later.

The person told the newspaper: “The BBC were briefing the nation on the rules — when their star who was part of the institution was quite happy to break them.”

The Sun said it had approached the BBC and the presenter for comment and would hand over evidence to the BBC’s investigation team.

They appear to be a separate person to the others who have made claims against the presenter, who has been suspended by the BBC.

The Sun first made allegations on Friday about the unnamed presenter, claiming a different young person was paid around £35,000 over three years, from the age of 17, for sexually explicit images.

The young person at the centre of the controversy said on Monday via a lawyer, according to BBC News At Six, that nothing inappropriate or unlawful happened with the unnamed presenter.

Their mother told The Sun they stand by the claims and a spokesperson for the newspaper said it is “now for the BBC to properly investigate”.

An unnamed police force confirmed earlier today it was contacted by the parents of the teenager in April, BBC News has reported.

The force said that “no criminality was identified” initially, however it has since met with the Metropolitan Police and the BBC, it was alleged.

Earlier today, the BBC said a family member contacted the corporation in May and the BBC’s Corporate Investigations Team assessed that the claims did not include an allegation of criminality but nonetheless merited further investigation.

Director-general Tim Davie announced he has ordered a review to “assess how some complaints are red flagged up the organisation”.

He told reporters he was first informed of the allegations when the newspaper said it would be publishing its front page story.

The corporation has also been asked to pause its internal investigation into the allegations “while the police scope future work” following a meeting with the Metropolitan Police.

A statement from the broadcaster said: “As a result of this meeting, the BBC has been asked to pause its investigations into the allegations while the police scope future work.”

It added: “The BBC has processes and protocols for receiving information and managing complaints when they are first made. We always take these matters extremely seriously and seek to manage them with the appropriate duty of care.

“The events of recent days have shown how complex and challenging these kinds of cases can be and how vital it is that they are handled with the utmost diligence and care.

“There will, of course, be lessons to be learned following this exercise.”

On Tuesday, BBC News reported a person in their early 20s – who the broadcaster said is not connected to the person in the first report by the Sun  – allegedly received threatening messages from the presenter.

According to the broadcaster, the presenter – who the BBC announced at the weekend has been suspended – met the young person on a dating app, not in person and asked the young person not to tell anyone.

The young person later posted online alluding to having had contact with the presenter and hinted they might name him.

The presenter then allegedly sent a number of “threatening messages”, which the BBC says it has seen and confirmed came from a phone number belonging to the unnamed man.

The BBC said the young person felt “threatened” by the messages and “remains scared”.

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