This "story" has more holes than a fishing net (an item which seems apt given the way it was brought to public attention)!
A few thoughts:
We can only real judge whether the BBC handled the situation correctly if we know what they were told or shown in this "hour long meeting". It appears they weren't given anything to identify or contact the young person. They were told the police had advised the stepdad nothing illegal had occurred. The mum/parents said they didn't want an investigation, just for 'payments to stop'. It doesn't seem that they were provided with any hard evidence of illegal activity on the part of their employee either.
So whatever action they took (which we'll probably never know) had to be a balance between the available evidence and their duty of care to their employee. That's probably why no suspension took place until 'new evidence came to light' (presumably the Sun's sworn affidavits from the parents, even though we don't know exactly what's in them).
The actual facts of the case are few and far between but it does point to a divided family - a he said/she said situation where parents were trying to intervene in an adult child's life and that intervention was/is unwelcome, particularly since they took the nuclear option of going to a tabloid.
It's interesting that the parents say they were privy to several phone calls between the young person and the presenter if this distrust existed. The snippets mentioned actually point to the presenter trying to distance themselves from the young person, but if another payment was made in June, does that suggest blackmail was taking place? And the nugget that the presenter "tried" to meet the young person at a railway station in May. For what reason? And why didn't they succeed? The Sun sure as hell would have been shouting about a 'sordid secret liaison' if they did!
Purely my opinion: the parents might well have been at the end of their tether but they've been naive at best in how they’ve handled things. They don't come across as particularly clued up as to how employers (or tabloids!) operate. It feels like they're now being manipulated by the Sun, whose agenda is very different. The Sun don't care about the wishes or needs of the family as long as they can stir up anti-BBC sentiment and distract from the misdeeds of Johnson, Osborne etc. The many male TV stars whose names have been dragged through the mud are collateral damage too. The BBC aren't responsible for that happening and, like I've already said, they have a duty of care to the presenter involved, so naming him isn't really an option if no criminality has been established.
Final thought (again purely speculative on my part): it's possible the presenters wife was aware of his bisexual leanings and tolerated him getting his jollies online. You never know what goes on behind closed doors. The real harm & humiliation can come about (or be made a 1000x worse) when the doors are blown off.
Whatever the actual dynamics are, it's just a total mess all round which has caused a world of hurt for both families. And for what reason...?
A few thoughts:
We can only real judge whether the BBC handled the situation correctly if we know what they were told or shown in this "hour long meeting". It appears they weren't given anything to identify or contact the young person. They were told the police had advised the stepdad nothing illegal had occurred. The mum/parents said they didn't want an investigation, just for 'payments to stop'. It doesn't seem that they were provided with any hard evidence of illegal activity on the part of their employee either.
So whatever action they took (which we'll probably never know) had to be a balance between the available evidence and their duty of care to their employee. That's probably why no suspension took place until 'new evidence came to light' (presumably the Sun's sworn affidavits from the parents, even though we don't know exactly what's in them).
The actual facts of the case are few and far between but it does point to a divided family - a he said/she said situation where parents were trying to intervene in an adult child's life and that intervention was/is unwelcome, particularly since they took the nuclear option of going to a tabloid.
It's interesting that the parents say they were privy to several phone calls between the young person and the presenter if this distrust existed. The snippets mentioned actually point to the presenter trying to distance themselves from the young person, but if another payment was made in June, does that suggest blackmail was taking place? And the nugget that the presenter "tried" to meet the young person at a railway station in May. For what reason? And why didn't they succeed? The Sun sure as hell would have been shouting about a 'sordid secret liaison' if they did!
Purely my opinion: the parents might well have been at the end of their tether but they've been naive at best in how they’ve handled things. They don't come across as particularly clued up as to how employers (or tabloids!) operate. It feels like they're now being manipulated by the Sun, whose agenda is very different. The Sun don't care about the wishes or needs of the family as long as they can stir up anti-BBC sentiment and distract from the misdeeds of Johnson, Osborne etc. The many male TV stars whose names have been dragged through the mud are collateral damage too. The BBC aren't responsible for that happening and, like I've already said, they have a duty of care to the presenter involved, so naming him isn't really an option if no criminality has been established.
Final thought (again purely speculative on my part): it's possible the presenters wife was aware of his bisexual leanings and tolerated him getting his jollies online. You never know what goes on behind closed doors. The real harm & humiliation can come about (or be made a 1000x worse) when the doors are blown off.
Whatever the actual dynamics are, it's just a total mess all round which has caused a world of hurt for both families. And for what reason...?
Maybe you’re right, but could easily just be someone who has got very into the gossip of this thread.