A lawyer for the young person at centre of the BBC presenter scandal has claimed the allegations made by their client’s mother are “rubbish”.
Over the weekend, an unnamed presenter at the BBC was accused of paying a teenager for sexually explicit images.
The allegations were first reported by The Sun newspaper, who interviewed the alleged victim’s mother.
The well-known figure was accused of paying over £35,000 (€40,944) to the person, who is now 20 years old.
It was alleged the anonymous star began the payments when the person was 17.
However, in a letter to the BBC, a lawyer for the young person has casted doubt on the story.
The letter from the lawyer stated: “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 BBC have also reported that “the young person sent a denial to the Sun on Friday evening saying there was ‘no truth to it’.”
In response to the lawyer’s letter, The Sun stated: “We have 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.
“Their complaint was not acted upon by the BBC. We have seen evidence that supports their concerns. It’s now for the BBC to properly investigate.”
Earlier today, the Metropolitan Police confirmed they met with the BBC to discuss the allegations.
In a statement, they said: “Detectives from the Met’s specialist crime command met with representatives from the BBC on the morning of Monday 10 July. The meeting took place virtually.
“They are assessing the information discussed at the meeting and further enquiries are taking place to establish whether there is evidence of a criminal offence being committed. There is no investigation at this time.”
The unnamed presenter was suspended by the BBC on Sunday after the allegations came to light.
In a statement, the broadcaster said: “The BBC takes any allegations seriously and we have robust internal processes in place to proactively deal with such allegations.”
“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. It is important that these matters are handled fairly and with care.”
“We have been clear that if – at any point – new information comes to light or is provided to us, this will be acted upon appropriately and actively followed up.”
“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 enquiries 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.”
A host of well-known faces have also spoken out to deny they’re the BBC presenter in question – including Rylan Clark and Gary Lineker.
