eb 26 2016 : The Times of India (Chennai)
`BBC culture helped Savile abuse minors'
London
PTI
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Serious failings in the BBC's culture of “reverence and fear“ towards celebrities had helped one of its most high-profile presenters Jimmy Savile sexually abuse his victims for decades at its premises, according to a major inquiry commissioned by the corporation released on Thursday .The probe conducted by former judge Dame Janet Smith, however, gave a clean chit to the BBC in terms of any responsibility in Savile's sexual abuse of underage girls and boys between the 1960s and 80s, saying it found no evidence that bosses were aware of it or that of Stuart Hall, a former British radio and TV presenter.
The inquiry was commissioned by the broadcaster at a cost of 6.5 million pounds into allegations of sexual abuse by celebrity presenters atBBC. “It did not protect those who put their trust in it,“ Smith said of Savile, who died in 2011, and Hall, the 86-year-old who was jailed in 2013 after admitting indecently assault ing 13 girls. The report cites 72 Savile victims, 34 of whom were aged under 16.
Tony Hall, director gener al of the BBC, apologised to the victims and said, “The BBC failed you when it should have protected you.“
The inquiry was commissioned by the broadcaster at a cost of 6.5 million pounds into allegations of sexual abuse by celebrity presenters atBBC. “It did not protect those who put their trust in it,“ Smith said of Savile, who died in 2011, and Hall, the 86-year-old who was jailed in 2013 after admitting indecently assault ing 13 girls. The report cites 72 Savile victims, 34 of whom were aged under 16.
Tony Hall, director gener al of the BBC, apologised to the victims and said, “The BBC failed you when it should have protected you.“
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