BBC presenter under fire for explicit photo allegations 'sent threatening messages' to second young person

A second young person has claimed they felt threatened by messages they received from a BBC presenter facing allegations he paid a teenager for sexually explicit photos.

The as-of-yet unnamed BBC star has been taken off air, after the Sun newspaper reported that he had allegedly paid a teenager more than £35,000 in exchange for sexual images - with the young person's parents claiming they had tried to complain to the BBC in the past.

A lawyer for the young person has disputed these claims, however their parents have stood by them. BBC has also paused its internal investigation while the Metropolitan Police make inquiries.

According to the BBC, the second person - in their early 20s - met the presenter on a dating app before their conversations moved to other platforms.

The presenter then revealed his identity and asked the young person not to tell anyone. When the young person later posted online alluding to having had contact with a BBC presenter - suggesting they might name him in the future - they claim the presenter concerned then sent a number of “threatening messages”.

The BBC reports it has seen these messages, and confirmed they came from a phone number belonging to the presenter. The young person felt “threatened” by the messages and “remain scared”, the broadcaster reported.

BBC News said it had contacted the presenter via his lawyer but had received no response to the allegations.

It also said that while the young person had spoken to BBC News, they were not believed to have made a formal complaint.

Earlier on Tuesday (11 July), BBC director-general Tim Davie said he has ordered a review to “assess how some complaints are red flagged up the organisation”, following the incident. Mr Davie said he was first informed of the allegations seven weeks after the family first complained about the presenter to the BBC, when the newspaper said it would be publishing its front page story.

He told reporters this was because there was no response to the attempts to make contact and investigators could not verify the claims. The claims were put to the presenter in question around the same time.