BBC Director-general Tim Davie told reporters at the broadcaster’s annual report conference that they had been instructed to “pause” their own investigation and send any relevant information to the Met Police with regards to the BBC broadcaster scandal.

In a sequence of events made public by the BBC, the organization said that it first got a complaint from the parents on May 19. However, it also acknowledged that it did not speak with the broadcaster about the allegations until July 7, the day before The Sun published its initial report.

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The BBC has been under increasing pressure for days to disclose what it knew and when regarding the claims against the anonymous TV personality. The presenter, a man, is accused of paying £35,000 over three years, starting when the subject, now 20 years old, was just 17.

The Met Police has confirmed it asked the BBC to pause its investigation into allegations made against the unnamed BBC presenter.

In a statement following Tim Davie’s press conference, the force said in a statement: “We have asked the BBC to pause its own investigation while we continue our assessment to establish whether there is evidence of a criminal offence being committed.

“The assessment is being led by detectives from the Met’s Specialist Crime Command and follows a virtual meeting with representatives from the BBC on the morning of Monday, 10 July.

This comes after the young person at the focus of the scandal claimed that the charges were “rubbish” and that nothing improper or illegal occurred with the anonymous BBC broadcaster.

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The director-general said that he had not spoken with the accused presenter directly, in an interview with BBC Radio 4’s World at One program.

Tim Davie said that the well-known presenter, who learned of the accusations on July 6, had been in touch with a senior manager.

When questioned about new accusations made against the host, he replied that he “absolutely cannot comment” while the authorities are still looking into the matter.