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Report on Sexual Abuse Scandal to Be Released in London Report Depicts Decades of Abuse by British TV Host
(about 3 hours later)
LONDON — British police and the country’s leading children’s charity were preparing on Friday to publish comprehensive details of the sexual abuse scandal involving former television host Jimmy Savile that has convulsed the nation’s public broadcaster, drawn in a mounting tally of suspects and raised questions about the protection of children from predators. LONDON — British police and the country’s leading children’s charity offered a horrific picture on Friday of six decades of sexual abuse of children as young as eight years by television host Jimmy Savile, and prosecutors admitted for the first time that they could have prosecuted him before his death in 2011 but failed to do so.
The report was expected to claim that children as young as 10 were among the victims of Mr. Savile, who died October 2011 at age 84. A few weeks later, “Newsnight,” a flagship current affairs program on the British Broadcasting Corporation, canceled an investigation into allegations of sexual abuse by Mr. Savile shortly before the BBC broadcast Christmas tributes to him. The “footprint” of abuse by the television star — once depicted as a zany national treasure and devotee of charitable works — was “vast, predatory and opportunistic,” said Peter Spindler, a police commander, as he released a report by Scotland Yard and the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.
As the scandal grew, it forced the resignation of the former director general of the BBC, George Entwistle. Police officials said last month that 589 people have made accusations related to the scandal, including 450 allegation of abuse by Mr. Savile, once depicted as a somewhat zany national treasure devoted to charitable works. The accusation include 31 of rape. Mr. Savile used his status as a national celebrity to “hide in plain sight” as he committed 214 criminal offenses in 28 police jurisdictions, the report said. The locations included the premises of the British Broadcasting Corporation, Mr. Savile’s employer, and 14 medical facilities such as hospitals, mental health units and a hospice for the dying. The accusations spanned the period from 1955 to 2009.
In addition, police investigations into abuse by Mr. Savile and other prominent figures in the entertainment industry have led to 10 men being interviewed about sexual accusations that they all deny. Six more men, who have not been identified by name, are under investigation. At the same time, the Crown Prosecution Service acknowledged that victims who accused Mr. Savile of abuse in 2009 were not taken seriously enough. “I would like to take the opportunity to apologize for the shortcomings in the part played by the Crown Prosecution Service in these cases,” Keir Starmer, the director of public prosecutions, said in a separate statement.
The Guardian newspaper said on Friday that the report to be published by Scotland Yard and the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children would accuse Mr. Savile of abusing children as young as 10. The institutions where abuse took place included a hospice for the dying, several hospitals and prisons and BBC premises, British news reports said. The joint report by the police and the children’s charity said Mr. Savile’s victims were between 8 and 47 years old. The majority — 73 percent — were children. After 450 people came forward to accuse Mr. Savile since October 2012, police concluded that the number of crimes of which he is accused totals 214, 34 of them rapes.
“He cannot face justice today,” Commander Spindler said. “But we hope this report gives some comfort to his hundreds of victims. They have been listened to and taken seriously.”
The abuse scandal has convulsed the BBC, Britain’s public broadcaster, drawn in a mounting tally of suspects and raised questions about the protection of children from predators.
The scandal began to emerge shortly after Mr. Savile died October 2011 at age 84. A few weeks later, “Newsnight,”a flagship current affairs program on the BBC, canceled an investigation into allegations of sexual abuse by Mr. Savile shortly before the BBC broadcast Christmas tributes to him.
As the scandal grew, it forced the resignation of the former director general of the BBC, George Entwistle. Police officials said last month that 589 people have made accusations related to the scandal mostly relating to Mr. Savile but including other high-profile figures. Police investigations have also questioned 10 men about sexual accusations that they all deny. Six more men, who have not been identified by name, are under investigation.
Before the report was published, John Cameron, the head of child protection for the children’s charity, told The Guardian: “It is very clear that Savile assaulted very young children and that he was a prolific pedophile, there is no doubt about that. We want this to mark a cultural shift so that if a child speaks out about someone, we take what they are saying seriously and we act upon it always in future.”Before the report was published, John Cameron, the head of child protection for the children’s charity, told The Guardian: “It is very clear that Savile assaulted very young children and that he was a prolific pedophile, there is no doubt about that. We want this to mark a cultural shift so that if a child speaks out about someone, we take what they are saying seriously and we act upon it always in future.”
A report commissioned by the BBC concluded last month that lax leadership hampered by “rigid management chains” left the corporation “completely incapable” of dealing with the crisis.A report commissioned by the BBC concluded last month that lax leadership hampered by “rigid management chains” left the corporation “completely incapable” of dealing with the crisis.
A 200-page report by Nick Pollard, a veteran British broadcast executive, strongly criticized the editorial and management decisions that prompted the BBC to cancel the broadcast in 2011 that would have exposed decades of abuse.A 200-page report by Nick Pollard, a veteran British broadcast executive, strongly criticized the editorial and management decisions that prompted the BBC to cancel the broadcast in 2011 that would have exposed decades of abuse.
But Mr. Pollard absolved top management of applying “undue pressure” in the decision to stop the broadcast.But Mr. Pollard absolved top management of applying “undue pressure” in the decision to stop the broadcast.
The report also did not challenge the assertions of Mark Thompson, then head of the BBC, that he had no role in killing the Savile investigation and was unaware of the sexual abuse accusations until he left the BBC this September. Mr. Thompson is now president and chief executive of The New York Times Company.The report also did not challenge the assertions of Mark Thompson, then head of the BBC, that he had no role in killing the Savile investigation and was unaware of the sexual abuse accusations until he left the BBC this September. Mr. Thompson is now president and chief executive of The New York Times Company.
The report’s central conclusion was that confusion and mismanagement, not a cover-up, lay at the heart of the decision to drop the Savile segment on “Newsnight.”The report’s central conclusion was that confusion and mismanagement, not a cover-up, lay at the heart of the decision to drop the Savile segment on “Newsnight.”
A second BBC inquiry into the culture of the BBC over decades of abuse is continuing.A second BBC inquiry into the culture of the BBC over decades of abuse is continuing.