BBC missed chances to stop sexual predator Savile

Good morning, today marks the publication, expected at 10am, of the long-awaited report into sexual abuse by the disgraced BBC broadcaster Jimmy Savile.

“Both of these men used their fame and positions as BBC celebrities to abuse the vulnerable”, Smith said in her review.

She said 117 people at the BBC admitted they had heard rumors about Savile, who even abused some victims on BBC premises, including the venues where his programs “Top Of The Pops”, and “Jim’ll Fix It” were shot.

And the late Douglas Muggeridge, controller of Radio 1 and 2 in 1973, became concerned about rumours of sexual impropriety concerning Savile and set in train two separate lines of enquiry.

The director-general of the BBC, Tony Hall, apologized to the victims Thursday.

The report said there had been – and still was – a prevailing, macho culture at the publicly-funded broadcaster in which staff were fearful of making complaints, especially about its top stars known internally as “The Talent”.

Staff at the BBC knew about complaints against Savile, the report said, but did not pass those concerns on to management because of a culture of fear that still persists at the corporation.

Liz Dux, a specialist abuse lawyer at Slater and Gordon Lawyers who represents 168 victims, criticised the fact that the report had no power to compel senior managers to give evidence.

DJ Tony Blackburn says he has been sacked after disputing evidence.

It added: “She did not tell anyone what had happened”.

Canon Semper said he had “regrets” because he was “so obsessed” with his programme, and his message to Savile’s victims was that he was “very sorry”. Thirty-four of the victims were under 16, the U.K.’s age of consent, and Savile’s youngest victim was 8 years old.

She found that within the BBC “no complaints” about Savile’s behaviour were made to the BBC Duty Office, the standard procedure for such concerns.

Dame Janet’s review – first announced in October 2012 and costing £7m – has been in contact with 775 people, interviewing 375 witnesses about Savile and 100 about Stuart Hall.

“However, I have found no evidence that the BBC, as a corporate body, was aware of Savile’s inappropriate sexual conduct in connection with his work for the BBC”.

One of Savile’s victims was a 12-year-old girl from Scotland who persuaded her aunt to take her to see the show.

But the veteran DJ released a statement in which he said: “My lawyers are now considering all statements made by the BBC about me today and we will be taking action”.

And in Hall’s case, firstly Raymond Colley, regional television manager at BBC Manchester from 1970 to 1986, spoke to Stuart Hall about his conduct but failed to check up on the star’s behaviour – which could have stopped further abuse. Hall pleaded guilty in 2013 to indecently assaulting 13 girls aged between nine and 17 years over a 20-year period.

In a statement, published on the BBC website, Rona Fairhead, Chair of the BBC Trust, said she was “appalled” by the report’s contents.