The BBC has said that it has suspended a leading presenter who is alleged to have paid a teenager for sexually explicit photos.
The UK’s publicly funded broadcaster said it was working to establish the facts of “a complex and fast-moving set of circumstances.”
The move comes after The Sun newspaper reported allegations that the male presenter gave a youth 35,000 pounds ($45,000) starting in 2020 when the young person was 17.
Neither the BBC star nor the youth was identified.
Though the age of sexual consent in Britain is 16, it’s a crime to make or possess indecent images of anyone under 18.
The Sun UK report said the young person’s mother had complained to the BBC in May but that the presenter had remained on the air.
The BBC said in a statement on Sunday July 9, that it “first became aware of a complaint in May,” but that “new allegations were put to us on Thursday of a different nature.”
The broadcaster said “the BBC takes any allegations seriously and we have robust internal processes in place to proactively deal with such allegations.” It said the corporation had also been in touch with “external authorities,” but did not specify whether that was the police.
“This is a complex and fast-moving set of circumstances and the BBC is working as quickly as possible to establish the facts in order to properly inform appropriate next steps,” the BBC said.
“We can also confirm a male member of staff has been suspended.”
The BBC faces greater scrutiny than other broadcasters because it is taxpayer-funded and committed to remaining impartial in its news coverage.
