UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian
Nicola Slawson
@nicola_slawson
Thursday 21 January 2016
A leaked draft report into the BBC’s practices at the time of the Jimmy Savile scandal has revealed the full extent of the former DJ’s predatory sexual activity.
The report, published by the investigative news website Exaro and led by Dame Janet Smith, is said to include “devastating detail” of the corporation’s “sheer scale of awareness” of the late star’s activities.
The report is said to point to a “deferential culture”, “untouchable stars” and “above the law” managers at the corporation. However, the BBC cannot be criticised for failing to uncover Savile’s “sexual deviancy”, it says.
The retired judge’s report outlines multiple rapes and indecent assaults on children by Savile, which she claims were all “in some way associated with the BBC”.
A BBC spokesman said they would not be commenting as they had not yet seen the final report or the draft. He said: “We cannot confirm the authenticity or contents of the leaked report and we don’t believe Exaro has the full version.”
Smith responded to the leak on Thursday morning, saying in a statement that the “document is out of date and significant changes have been made to its contents and conclusions. The document should not have been made public and cannot be relied upon in any circumstances.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.