Late BBC presenter Jimmy Savile was a predatory sex offender who abused children as young as eight over more than 50 years, using his fame and eccentricity to hide “in plain sight”, British police said Friday.

A three-month investigation with the NSPCC children‘s charity found that Savile, one of the biggest TV stars in Britain in the 1970s and 1980s, took every opportunity to abuse young girls, boys and adult women across the country.

He used his fame as presenter of BBC TV’s “Top of the Pops” chart show and children‘s programme “Jim’ll Fix It” to rape and assault victims on BBC premises as well as in schools and hospitals, where he was welcomed by his fans.

The scandal has thrown the BBC into crisis, although police said the world‘s biggest public broadcaster should not shoulder the blame for his criminal acts.

“It is clear that Savile cunningly built his entire life’s work around gaining access to vulnerable children in order to carry out his abuse,” said Peter Watt of the NSPCC.

He described Savile as “one of the most prolific sex offenders” the charity had ever dealt with, adding: “He hid in plain sight behind a veil of eccentricity, double-bluffing those who challenged him.”

David Gray, head of Scotland Yard‘s paedophile unit, said Savile “spent every moment of every waking day thinking about it, and whenever an opportunity came along, he took it”.

The police report was published as Britain’s top prosecutor, Keir Starmer, admitted that action could have been taken against Savile in 2009 if police had taken the victims more seriously.

Starmer apologised and said he hoped the Savile case would be seen as a “watershed moment” that changed the authorities‘ approach to sexual abuse.

Savile, who died in October 2011 at the age of 84, was a hugely popular but eccentric figure, famed for his shock of white hair, tracksuits and chunky gold jewellery. He was knighted in 1990.

There were rumours about his private life but he batted them away with jokes.

A year after his death, five women went on television to complain Savile had abused them when they were girls, opening the floodgates for hundreds of similar allegations.

About 450 people have now come forward with information, with 214 criminal offences, including 34 rapes -- 28 of them of children -- recorded so far.

Three quarters of the victims were children, mostly girls aged between 13 and 16, but the youngest was an eight-year-old boy.

The report found there was “no clear evidence” that Savile was involved in any paedophile ring. Instead, it said the attacks, which stretched from 1955 to 2009, were “mainly opportunistic sexual assaults”.

In 1960, a 10-year-old boy saw Savile outside a hotel and asked for his autograph. The presenter took the child inside to reception, where he subjected him to a serious penetrative sexual assault.

Police said Savile was able to get away with it because of his fame as well as the shame felt by his victims and their fears they would not be believed.

Commander Peter Spindler, who led Scotland Yard’s investigation into Savile, said he had “groomed the nation”.

He said the police report “paints a stark picture emphasising the tragic consequences of when vulnerability and power collide”.

But he cautioned against blaming any one institution for the abuse, which took place at the BBC, in schools, in 13 hospitals and even in one hospice, where Savile sexually assaulted a young teenage visitor.

“It‘s dangerous to look at one organisation to try to hang the blame on them,” Spindler said, insisting that “celebrity was his vehicle”.

The BBC has commissioned an independent investigation into the allegations, and last month published a critical review into the failure of its “Newsnight” programme to report claims of abuse made against Savile following his death.

The corporation expressed its shock at Friday’s police report, saying: “The BBC is appalled that some of the offences were committed on its premises. We would like to restate our sincere apology to the victims of these crimes.”

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said an inquiry was also underway into how Savile abused hospital patients, adding: “I think all of us feel sick, frankly, that we were eulogising this person who at the same time was conducting this utterly appalling behaviour. (AFP)



<관련 한글 기사>


경찰, '英 유명연예인 10대 200명 성폭행'

지난해 사망한 영국 BBC 방송의 간판 진행자 지미 새빌이 129년의 영국 경찰수사 사상 가장 많은 범행을 저지른 성범죄자 중 한 명이었던 것으로 드러났다.

영국 경찰은 국립아동학대예방협회(NSPCC)와 3개월 진행한 수사 결과를 11일(현지시간) 발표, 새빌의 아동 성범죄 의혹이 사실로 확인됐다고 밝혔다.

수사보고서에 따르면, 새빌은 1955년부터 2009년까지 성폭행 34건을 포함해 총 214건의 성범죄를 저지른 것으로 조사됐다.

피해자 진술을 통해 수사를 벌인 경찰은 “약탈적인 성범죄자의 광범위한 성적 학대의 진상을 파악할 수 있었다”고 밝혔다.

새빌은 13개 병원과 1개 호스피스, 14개 학교 등 장소를 가리지 않고 피해자들을 유린했다. 심지어는 자신의 방송을 녹화하는 BBC 방송국 스튜디오에서도 범행을 저질렀던 것으로 파악됐다.

경찰은 새빌의 범행에 대해 “매우 기회주의적인 범죄”라며 “그는 매 순간을 소년과 소녀, 여성들을 성폭행하는 기회로 활용했고, 일단 기회가 주어지면 절대 놓치지 않았다”고 말했다.

경찰에 따르면 새빌로부터 성적 학대를 받았다고 주장한 사람은 450명에 달했으며, 이 중 73%가 18세 미만 미성년자였다.

대다수는 13~16세 사이에 속했으며 가장 어린 피해자는 8세 소년이었다. 이들 중에는 1960년 호텔 앞에서 새빌에게 사인을 해달라고 부탁했다가 안으로 끌려가 성폭행을 당한 10세 소년도 있었다.

경찰은 “새빌은 자신의 지위와 명성을 이용해 위기 상황을 모면했다”며 “피해자들은 사람들이 자신의 말을 믿어주지 않을 것이라는 두려움 때문에 피해를 보고도 제대로 털어놓지 못했다”고 설명했다.

NSPCC의 피터 와트 “새빌이 역사상 가장 많은 성범죄를 저지른 사람이라는 데에는 의심할 여지가 없다”며 “그가 더 이상 이 세상에 없기 때문에 피해자들은 재판을 통해 억울함을 풀 수도 없게 됐다”고 말했다.

영국 검찰은 새빌이 살아있던 2009년 그를 기소할 기회를 놓친 것에 대해 공식사과했다. 검찰은 당시 증거불충분을 이유로 새빌을 불기소 처분한 바 있다.

새빌은 BBC에서 유명 프로그램을 진행해 큰 인기와 명성을 누리다 2011년 10월 사망했다.

그러나 지난해 말 영국 민영방송 ITV가 새빌이 1970년대부터 미성년자를 상대로 성폭행이나 성추행을 일삼았다는 주장이 제기되면서 영국 사회를 큰 충격에 빠뜨렸다.

파문이 불거진 이후 경찰이 대대적으로 수사한 결과 사건에 연루된 혐의로 왕년의 록스타 개리 글리터(68), 홍보 대행업계 거물 맥스 클리퍼드(69) 등 7명이 경찰조사를 받았다.

또 BBC 방송은 새빌의 비행을 폭로하려던 기획물을 방영하지 않아 은폐 논란에 휩싸였다. 이에 따라 의혹의 중심에 놓인 프로그램 책임자가 해임됐고 사장까지 전격 사임했다. (코리아헤럴드)