BBC director-general Tim Davie likely to face questions on presenter scandal

BBC Director-General Tim Davie is apt to look questions astir the BBC presenter ungraded successful a scheduled media quality connected Tuesday.

The suspension of the unnamed presenter is apt to predominate the briefing connected the BBC's yearly performance.

The Sun paper archetypal reported that the presenter had allegedly paid a teen for sexually explicit photos.

A lawyer representing the young idiosyncratic aboriginal said the assertion - made by their parents - was "rubbish".

The lawyer said the young idiosyncratic had sent a denial to the Sun astir the allegations made by their parent earlier the paper published the communicative connected Friday.

The Sun says it has seen grounds to backmost the mother's claims.

But successful a missive sent connected Monday to the BBC, the lawyer said the young idiosyncratic had sent a connection to the insubstantial connected Friday saying the connection made by their parent to the paper was "totally incorrect and determination was nary information to it".

Nonetheless, the lawyer added, the Sun paper proceeded to people "their inappropriate article".

"For the avoidance of doubt, thing inappropriate oregon unlawful has taken spot betwixt our lawsuit and the BBC property and the allegations reported successful the Sun paper are rubbish," the lawyer wrote.

The lawyer besides said property reporting amounted to an penetration of privacy, and criticised some the Sun and the BBC for not contacting their client.

"Nobody from the Sun paper appears to person made immoderate effort to interaction our lawsuit anterior to the work of the allegations connected Friday 6 July," the lawyer writes.

The lawyer besides claimed successful the missive that the parent and the young idiosyncratic were estranged.

In response, the Sun said: "We person reported a communicative astir 2 precise acrophobic parents who made a ailment to the BBC astir the behaviour of a presenter and the payment of their child.

"Their ailment was not acted upon by the BBC. We person seen grounds that supports their concerns. It's present for the BBC to decently investigate."

The Sun published a caller communicative connected Monday evening aft BBC News disclosed excerpts from the young person's ineligible letter.

In a caller interview, the parent and step-father who made the claims said they stood by their allegations.

The step-father is quoted successful the nonfiction arsenic saying allegations were enactment to the BBC "for an hour", appearing to contradict a erstwhile connection successful Monday's variation which stated: "The household accidental no-one from the corp rang them for a due interrogation aft the archetypal complaint."

The nonfiction besides reports that the step-father went to constabulary astir the substance but was told "they couldn't bash thing arsenic they said it wasn't illegal".

Mr Davie said successful an email to BBC unit connected Sunday that the corp took the claims astir its presenter "incredibly seriously".

The erstwhile exertion of the Guardian, Alan Rusbridger, has said the archetypal communicative presented successful The Sun was "clearly 1 successful which determination was nationalist interest" and that the BBC had questions to answer.

But arsenic the communicative has developed, it had go "much much muddled", helium told BBC Radio 4's The World Tonight programme.

"It's funny that the kid themselves wasn't approached, oregon if it's existent that they contacted The Sun, that their mentation of events wasn't included," Rusbridger added.

BBC News does not cognize the individuality of the young idiosyncratic and has not spoken straight to them.

It has not seen immoderate of the Sun's assemblage of grounds oregon the dossier the Sun reported was handed to the corp by the household implicit the weekend.

The BBC said connected Sunday that a unit subordinate had been suspended but it did not place him.

The corp said it was moving arsenic accelerated arsenic imaginable "to found the facts successful bid to decently pass due adjacent steps".

If the presenter obtained sexually explicit images of the young idiosyncratic erstwhile they were nether 18 years old, that is simply a substance for probe arsenic a imaginable transgression offence. The property of consent is 16, but a idiosyncratic nether the property of 18 is not an adult. The instrumentality says they cannot consent to taking portion successful "indecent photographs".

The Metropolitan Police is "assessing" accusation from the BBC implicit the allegations made against the presenter but has said determination is presently nary investigation. Detectives held a virtual gathering with BBC representatives connected Monday.

In its study connected Friday, The Sun claimed that a BBC presenter had paid the idiosyncratic tens of thousands of pounds for the images, starting erstwhile the young idiosyncratic was 17.

The BBC said it had archetypal go alert of a ailment successful May and that "new allegations" had been received connected Thursday, the time earlier the Sun archetypal published its claims.

On Sunday, the Sun reported that the young person's household was upset by the corporation's latest response, alleging "no-one from the BBC rang them for a due interrogation aft the archetypal complaint".

The insubstantial besides claimed the BBC presenter had made what it called 2 "panicked calls" to the young idiosyncratic - who is present 20 - aft the archetypal communicative came out.

With stories similar this one, BBC News journalists dainty the BBC successful the aforesaid mode arsenic immoderate different organisation the quality work reports on.

And similar with immoderate different organisation, BBC News has to inquire BBC absorption oregon BBC services for responses and interaction the BBC property bureau for authoritative statements.

Occasionally BBC journalists attack elder managers for unplanned interviews - known arsenic "doorsteps" successful the quality business.

They sometimes besides get offered interviews with absorption - like this one with Mr Davie implicit the Gary Lineker row.

And erstwhile this happens, they cognize they volition beryllium scrutinised wrong and extracurricular the BBC implicit however good they clasp their brag to account.