It’s been claimed that the unidentified individual paid a teenager more than £35,000 for the imagery, from when the youngster was 17 years old.
The now-20-year-old’s mother said that the money funded their child’s drug addiction, while she revealed that she allegedly saw a picture of the well-known BBC star in their underwear.
In a fresh report, it’s been claimed that the presenter made ‘panicked’ calls to the teenager, allegedly saying in one call last week: ‘What have you done?’
It’s also been claimed in The Sun that he also asked the youngster to ring their mum to get her to ‘stop the investigation’.
The publication also alleged that sources at the BBC said: ‘The BBC has started to receive calls from the public about the behaviour of the person at the centre of the investigation.’
A BBC spokesperson confirmed in a statement that the broadcaster ‘first became aware of a complaint in May’.
However, new allegations were brought to the company on Thursday ‘of a different nature’.
‘In addition to our own inquiries we have also been in touch with external authorities, in line with our protocols,’ they said.
The spokesperson continued: ‘We can also confirm a male member of staff has been suspended. We expect to be in a position to provide a further update in the coming days as the process continues,’ adding that the BBC board ‘will continue to be kept up to date’.
BBC director-general Tim Davie said that he ‘wholly condemned the unsubstantiated rumours being made on the internet about some of our presenting talent’, while stressing that by law, ‘individuals are entitled to a reasonable expectation of privacy, which is making this situation more complex’.
The boss of the broadcaster added: ‘We are in contact with the family referenced in the media reports. I want to assure you that we are working rapidly to establish the facts and to ensure that these matters are handled fairly and with care, including by external authorities where appropriate.’
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police confirmed that they had made initial ‘contact’ with the BBC over the allegations.
‘The Met has received initial contact from the BBC in relation to this matter, but no formal referral or allegation has been made,’ they said.
‘We will require additional information before determining what further action should follow.’
When contacted for comment by Metro.co.uk, a BBC spokesperson pointed to the broadcaster’s most recent statement, which read: ‘The BBC takes any allegations seriously and we have robust internal processes in place to proactively deal with such allegations.
‘This is a complex and fast moving set of circumstances and the BBC is working as quickly as possible to establish the facts in order to properly inform appropriate next steps. It is important that these matters are handled fairly and with care.’
The spokesperson stressed that the BBC has ‘been clear’ that ‘if – at any point – new information comes to light or is provided to us, this will be acted upon appropriately and actively followed up’.
They continued: ‘The BBC first became aware of a complaint in May. New allegations were put to us on Thursday of a different nature and in addition to our own enquiries we have also been in touch with external authorities, in line with our protocols. We can also confirm a male member of staff has been suspended.
‘We expect to be in a position to provide a further update in the coming days as the process continues. The BBC Board will continue to be kept up to date.’
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