BBC sex scandals: how many BBC presenters have been accused of sexual misconduct since Jimmy Savile?

The BBC is caught up in another scandal as the company has suspended one of its male presenters over sexual misconduct allegations.

The presenter, who has not yet been named, has been accused of paying a teenager £35,000 for explicit photos. The BBC received a complaint about the presenter in May but he remained on air until new allegations were made on Thursday.

The BBC will meet with the Metropolitan Police today (10 July) to discuss the matter, though no formal criminal allegation has yet been made.

The victim's mother stated that the money the presenter allegedly paid was used to fuel a crack cocaine addiction which has "destroyed" her child's life. It is sadly far from the first time that BBC staff have been at the forefront of sexual misconduct allegations.

Since 2012, when allegations against Jimmy Savile were discussed publicly, several high profile BBC talent and former stars have faced serious allegations, and some were sent to prison for their crimes.

Which former BBC employees have been accused of sex offences?

Following the death of top BBC presenter and DJ Jimmy Savile in 2011, allegations surrounding his now notorious crimes began to become public, although similar allegations had been made when the star was alive and still working for the company.

By late October 2012 police stated that the number of Savile’s victims was around 300. The disgraced presenter’s guilt was never proven, nor was he brought to justice, because he had died before the scandal had truly come to light.

The Savile scandal prompted the Met to set up Operation Yewtree, a major investigation into Savile and other media personalities.

Other BBC personalities brought to book under Yewtree were DJ and presenter David Griffin, who received a suspended sentence after being found guilty of indecent assault against a researcher on BBC series Mrs Merton Show. 

Rolf Harris was the most notorious offender after Savile - he was sentenced to five years and nine months in 2014 for nine counts of indecent assault which took place in the 1980s. Harris worked at the BBC during that period and was one of the company’s most popular entertainers.

Geoffrey Wheeler, a BBC employee but not the broadcaster and Songs of Praise broadcaster of the same name, was also sentenced as part of Yewtree. He was found guilty on one count of indecent assault and cleared of four other charges, and was sentenced to 50 hours of unpaid work as well as £150 in restitution to the victim and prosecution’s costs.

In 2013, presenter Stuart Hall, who fronted regional news coverage for the BBC in 1960s and 1970s and later the popular challenge show It’s a Knockout, was found guilty of two counts of indecent assault against a 13-year-old girl and sentenced to 15 months in prison, increased to 30 months on appeal. In 2014 he was sentenced to additional 30 months for indecent assault to be served consecutively.

DJ Tim Westwood, who joined Radio 1 in 1994, was in 2022 accused by seven women, of sexual misconduct in a series of incidents that allegedly took place between 1992 and 2017. Westwood also faces an allegation that he had sex with a woman when she was a 14 year old girl.

Westwood denies the allegations. The Met confirmed in August last year that they were investigating allegations of sexual offences against the DJ, however he has not been arrested.