How the BBC says it handled complaint into presenter

The BBC has released its own timeline of events over the allegations one of its presenters paid a teenager for sexually explicit photographs.

The broadcaster says it first received a complaint via a family member of the teenager in May and that it was immediately referred to its internal investigations team.

The corporation says it did not information its presenter for seven weeks about the claims.

It also says it has paused its own investigation at the request of the Metropolitan Police yesterday while officers “scope future work” related to the complaint.

It comes as the BBC’s director-general Tim Davie faced the media today as the controversy deepens.

Here’s the BBC’s timeline of events:

18 May

The complainant (a family member) visits a BBC building in an attempt to make a complaint about the behaviour of a BBC presenter

19 May

The same complainant contacts BBC Audience Services and the details are referred to the BBC’s Corporate Investigations Team. The team asses the information.

The assessment made is that – on the basis of the information provided – the complaint does not include an allegation of criminality, but nonetheless merits further investigation.

On the same day, the investigation team emails the complainant stating how seriously the BBC takes the issue and seeks additional information to verify the claims being made.

The BBC says its team receives no response to this email and that checks are also made to verify the identity of the complainant, something it describes as standard procedure.

6 June

A phone call is made by the investigations team to the mobile number provided by the complainant, but the call does not connect.

No additional attempts to contact the complainant are made after 6 June, however the case remains open throughout.

6 July

The Sun newspaper contacts the BBC via the Corporate Press Office of allegations concerning the BBC presenter.

The BBC says it becomes clear at this point that the source of the claims is the same family as approached by the BBC on 18 and 19 May.

This is the first time that the Director General or any executive directors at the BBC are aware of the case.

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The BBC says the claims made by The Sun contain new allegations that are different to the matters being considered by the BBC Corporate Investigations team.

A BBC incident management group, involving senior BBC executives and the Director General, is launched to lead the response to the claims and the acting chairman is updated.

A senior manager holds the first conversation with the presenter to make him aware of the claims being outlined by The Sun, and it is agreed that the presenter remains off air while the matter is considered.

7 July

The BBC’s Corporate Investigations team contacts the complainant again.

A BBC’s Serious Case Management Framework (SCMF) is initiated and the investigation being undertaken by the Corporate Investigations Team is brought into the SCMF, which is chaired by a Human Resources Director.

The BBC also makes contact with the Metropolitan Police in regard to the matter.

8-9 July

The complainant sends the BBC some material related to the complaint.

The BBC issues an update to staff and the media and confirms it has suspended the presenter.

10 July

The BBC meets with the Metropolitan Police to report the matter and discuss how to progress the investigation.

The force requests that the BBC pauses its investigations into the allegations while they scope future work.

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