Jimmy Savile excluded from involvement by BBC in Children in Need claims former Board of Governors member
Jimmy Savile was prevented from any involvement with Children In Need according to former member of the BBC’s board of Governors Sir Roger Jones.
Jones’ comments come as the BBC’s investigation into the culture at the organisation at the time of Savile’s alleged sexual abuse begins, with Jones also describing the late DJ and presenter, accused of hundreds of accounts of sexual assaults on underage children as “a pretty creepy sort of character.”
Savile was knighted for raising tens of millions for charity, but is said to have been excluded from any involvement in Children in need over his rumoured behaviour.
"When I was with Children In Need, we took the decision that we didn't want him anywhere near to the charity and we just stepped up our child protection policies, which again would have put him at great risk if he tried anything,” said Jones.
The statement will heighten questions as to why the BBC failed to act on rumours of his behaviour around children over the decades that he worked for the corporation.