A joint report into allegations of sexual abuse by the late Jimmy Savile was released today, detailing the BBC presenter’s long string of victims.
Savile was an English DJ, television presenter, media personality and charity fundraiser, hosting the BBC television show Jim'll Fix It, as well as the music chart show Top of the Pops. After his death last year, a large number of people came forward with child abuse allegations, resulting in the investigation dubbed Operation Yewtree.
The report entitled “Giving Victims a Voice” is the collaboration between the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) and the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC), and will continue to be updated as new victims and crimes are identified.
The 37 page report is the culmination of three months of interviews and investigations with approximately 30 detectives working the case.
Authored by David Gray, Detective Superintendent with MPS, along with Peter Watt with NSPCC, the report describes their three prong approach to the investigation; the first prong is offenses believed to have been committed by Jimmy Savile on his own; the second is where victims have said there were other people around Savile who they believe were involved in offending; the third involves accounts from people who have come forward as a result of the publicity about Jimmy Savile, but who have said they were sexually assaulted by people unconnected to him.
Approximately 600 people have come forward and provided information to the investigative team, with the total number of these relating to Savile believed to be around 450, mainly alleging sexual abuse.
Of the victims that were interviewed, 214 criminal offenses have been identified so far, with the earliest incident occurring in 1955. The last reported offense occurred in 2009.
Most of the offenses took place in Leeds and London, Savile’s home town and his main work location.
Many of the situations were identified as being manipulated by Savile and in an opportunistic manner, but there are others where Savile groomed his victims.
So far there have been 126 indecent acts and 34 rapes identified, with 73% being perpetrated against victims under the age of 18.
The report goes on to identify a number of past accusations that tied Savile to child abuse as well as rumors of being a pedophile.
At a press conference earlier today, Scotland Yard’s Commander Peter Spindler said Savile had groomed the nation while using his fame to hide in plain sight. “His offending footprint was vast, predatory and opportunistic,” Spindler said.
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