BBC presenter ‘made panicked calls to teenager to try and stop investigation’

The BBC presenter accused of paying a teenager for explicit pictures made panicked phone calls to them after the story was published to try and stop the investigation, it has been claimed. The TV star, who was suspended by the broadcaster on Sunday, allegedly called the teenager twice after the claims were made in The Sun last week and asked: ‘What have you done?’ He also asked the alleged victim – who is now 20 but said to have been 17 when the payments began – to call their mother and get her to ‘stop the investigation’, according to the newspaper. It is alleged that the TV star paid more than £35,000 in exchange for sexual images and that the teenager used the money to fund a cocaine addiction, which ‘destroyed’ their life. The mother described how her child turned from a ‘happy-go-lucky youngster’ to a ‘ghost-like crack addict’ in three years. She said she saw a picture of the presenter on her child’s phone “sitting on a sofa in his house in his underwear”. The mother said she was told it was “a picture from some kind of video call” and looked like he was “getting ready for my child to perform for him”. A dossier of evidence was handed to the broadcaster’s lead investigator by the teenager’s family on Saturday, The Sun reports. The family were said to have complained to the BBC on 19 May but allegedly became frustrated when the star remained on the air. On Sunday, the BBC said the presenter had been suspended and that it had contacted the Metropolitan Police as part of their investigation. BBC boss Tim Davie also said that the corporation has been investigating the complaint since May when it was first made aware. But he said new allegations of a “different nature” were brought to the BBC on Thursday. In a statement on Sunday evening, the Metropolitan Police said: “The Met has received initial contact from the BBC in relation to this matter but no formal referral or allegation has been made. “We will require additional information before determining what further action should follow.’ A BBC spokesperson said: “The BBC first became aware of a complaint in May. “New allegations were put to us on Thursday of a different nature and in addition to our own inquiries we have also been in touch with external authorities, in line with our protocols. We can also confirm a male member of staff has been suspended. “We expect to be in a position to provide a further update in the coming days as the process continues. The BBC board will continue to be kept up to date.”