81 BBC staff faced claims of sexual impropriety

SEXUAL allegations involving 81 BBC staff have been reported since the Jimmy Savile scandal came to light – with almost half of them still working for the corporation.

Sexual allegations involving 81 BBC staff have been reported since the Jimmy Savile scandal came to light. Picture: PA

New figures show 40 of the people whose names have come up since 3 October are either current staff or contributors. The remainder have either died or no longer work for the BBC.

Of those 40, a total of 25 have been reported to police, with allegations against 15 of them not deemed to be criminal.

Data released as a result of a Freedom Of Information request shows only ten of the cases involving present staff or contributors are still ongoing, with investigations by the police or the BBC

Of the 81 people about whom allegations have been made, 54 involve “physical” incidents, with 23 people still involved with the corporation. The remainder relate to verbal and “non-physical” incidents.

In all, there have been 152 sexual allegations made about BBC staff and contributors, with 52 of those still involved with the organisation.

The BBC said a total of 36 allegations, made against 20 people, involved victims under the age of 18.

The Savile scandal erupted last year and sent the BBC into crisis over its handling of the issue. Director-general George Entwistle resigned as a result of the fall-out, only 54 days into the job.

The BBC published a report this month which revealed there had been 37 formal complaints of sexual harassment over the past six years out of a total of 22,000 staff and 60,000 freelancers.

A BBC spokesman said it had been “appalled” by the allegations of harassment and abuse that have emerged.

He went on: “We have launched a series of reviews that aim to understand if there are any issues with the current culture of the BBC or the historic culture and practices from as far back as 1965 to see what lessons can be learned to prevent this happening again.”