9 key questions BBC boss did not answer about presenter scandal

The BBC's director general has refused to be drawn on several questions surrounding claims a male presenter paid a young person for sexually explicit pictures.

Tim Davie was asked about the ongoing scandal on BBC Radio 4's World at One programme on Tuesday, right after facing a grilling during a briefing on the broadcaster's annual report.

Many questions remained unanswered since The Sun reported on Friday that an unnamed presenter had allegedly paid £35,000 to a young person they had been in contact with – from the age of 17 – for sexual images.

On Monday, a lawyer for the young person described the initial report as "rubbish", while the alleged victim's mother and step-father have said they stick by their story.

A second young person has subsequently come forward accusing the same presenter of sending threatening messages after they met on a dating app.

Here, Yahoo News details the questions asked by World at One host Sarah Montague that Tim Davie did not fully answer.

1. 'What was the initial complaint made against the BBC presenter?'

Davie was asked this in the context of the BBC saying that "new allegations" had been put to the corporation on Thursday of a "different nature" to a complaint made by the young person's family in May.

When asked for details of the initial complaint, the director general said: "We have an outstanding corporate investigations team, they're very experienced, they assess the complaint. Now, I'm not going to go into the absolute specifics because of privacy concerns."

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This remains an important question, because when the BBC assessed the complaint in May it was not judged to involve criminal behaviour, according to Davie. The law states it is illegal to take, make, share and possess indecent images of anyone under 18.

2. 'How did the complaint differ from what The Sun reported'

Remaining tight-lipped on this question, Davie said: "I want to be careful about what I can give you in terms of the specifics of the complaint."

He went on to explain that the corporate investigations team looked at a summary of a call lasting 29 minutes and assessed it.

3. 'In the information the BBC became aware of at that stage, was it clear, as the family have suggested, that there were contacts made and they dated back three years from when the person was 20?'

This question is important as it could help determine whether or not the young person was a minor when their interactions with the presenter first began.

When asked it, Davie responded: "I cannot get into specifics, what I would say is, it was clearly serious allegations.

"They were serious because the corporate investigations team decided to push forward and investigate the case."

4. 'What was the presenter's response when he was spoken to – has he denied it?'

When asked about the presenter in question's reaction to the allegations, Davie said: "I'm not going to get into specific conversations with the presenter."

He added that he hadn't spoken personally to the suspended member of staff, adding: "He's been spoken to by a senior manager."

5. 'Has the presenter offered to resign?'

Davie refused to answer this question, too, saying: "We have to respect the privacy of an employee."

When Montague pointed out that the BBC has a duty of care to other people – including the multiple male presenters who have been forced to publicly defend themselves, Davie said the situation is "very difficult and complex".

"We're trying to calmly and judiciously navigate our way through quite difficult circumstances. You've got to balance duty of care issues and privacy issues."

6. 'Have there been any other allegations or complaints made against the same presenter?'

To this, Davie responded: "Because this is a subject of an active police discussion in terms of them looking at what they want to do going forward – absolutely I cannot comment on that."

7. 'Do you know categorically that the presenter did not pay for the young person's legal fees?'

The question referred to the front page of Tuesday's Sun, in which the young person's family describe the BBC as "liars" for claiming "new allegations" emerged last week.

She also pointed to the mother of the young person asking how they could afford the lawyer who rubbished her claims.

When asked if he knew, "categorically", that the presenter didn't cover these legal fees, Davie said: "That is not information that I am party to. I think that's not something for the BBC, bluntly.

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He said the same applies to the question of whether the presenter has been in contact with the young person, adding: "I think there's absolutely a proper duty of care for everyone involved, but when it comes to those matters, they may be appropriate lines of inquiry for the newsroom.

"But I think for the BBC corporately, we need to make sure that we're taking the evidence that we've got and presenting that to the police and then taking that forward."

8. 'Did any of the execs in the department the presenter works in have an idea or inkling about this?'

Davie made it clear that he wasn't aware of the allegations until Thursday last week, but when asked if any senior figures from the presenter's department knew about them, he said he couldn't "answer for everyone" in a department.

"What I can answer for is the top team, the executive committee and myself – that's what I can answer for."

9. 'Have you had many other complaints from other male presenters?'

Asked if other male presenters had complained to him over the handling of the scandal, Davie said: "I can't speak to complaints that come in immediately in this affair.

"I think there's no doubt that, as has been expressed publicly, this is a situation in which duty of care concerns for those individuals who may be affected in the way you're talking about is a concern for the BBC.

"I think we have excellent practices to support people, and I know it is not easy, but I'm trying, and I think we are making the right calls within all of those pressures."

Watch: BBC director general Tim Davie answers questions on the presenter sex scandal