The messages were sent on a dating app
A person in their 20s has claimed they were sent threatening messages by the BBC presenter at the centre of a scandal over payment for sexually explicit photos.
The individual said they were first contacted by the male on a dating app. They told BBC News they were put under pressure by the high-profile presenter to meet up, but never did.
When the young person hinted that they may name the presenter, they were sent abusive, expletive-filled messages by the figure.
They felt ‘frightened’ by the messages and were also scared by the power the presenter held.
The young person has no connection to the person at the centre of the Sun’s story about the same presenter paying them thousands of pounds for sexually explicit pictures.
The presenter and the young person had met on a dating app, and the conversation move from there onto other platforms.
It was then that the presenter revealed his identity, telling the young person to keep this secret.
But when they alluded online to having chatted with a BBC presenter, and implied that they may name him, he sent several threatening messages.
BBC News has seen the messages and verified that they were sent from the presenter’s phone.
They have also seen the young person’s online post.
The presenter in question has yet to be publicly identified after the Sun printed claims on Friday that they paid £35,000 over the course of three years for sexually explicit pictures of a young person who was 17 when this first started.
The claims were made to the paper by the unidentified young person’s mother, who said their child used the money to fund a crack cocaine habit.
But on Monday, a lawyer representing the young person said that “nothing inappropriate or unlawful” had taken place between their client and the BBC presenter.
They said the Sun had published the piece despite the young person having told the paper over WhatsApp that there was “no truth” to their mother’s allegations.
Related links:
BBC ‘explicit images’ case could land presenter on sex offenders register
BBC ‘desperately attempting’ to make ‘explicit pics’ presenter come forward, report claims
