Jimmy Savile's nephew voices disgust at child abuse claims

Sunday 30 September 2012

The nephew of the late broadcaster Sir Jimmy Savile has said his family is "disgusted and disappointed" that allegations his uncle sexually abused school girls have been made when he is no longer around to defend himself.

Roger Foster was responding to allegations in a TV documentary about Sir Jimmy's behaviour from a number of women.

The programme details claims from the women dating back to the 1970s, including allegations he abused girls in his Rolls-Royce car and at BBC TV Centre.

The programme is due to be aired on ITV1 later this week.Mr Foster, from Goole, East Yorkshire, said he was not only concerned for Sir Jimmy's reputation and legacy but also for the damage the allegations could do to his charities.He said: "I just get so disgusted and disappointed by it. The guy hasn't been dead for a year yet and they're bringing these stories out. It could affect his legacy, his charity work, everything. I'm very sad and disgusted."Mr Foster said: "I just don't understand the motives behind this. I just think it's very, very sad you can say these things after someone's died and the law says you can't defend yourself when you're dead."Sir Jimmy, who was famous for TV shows like Jim'll Fix It and Top Of The Pops as well as being a DJ on Radio One, died at his home in Leeds on October 29 last year, aged 84. Among his properties were a cottage in Glencoe.Exposure: The Other Side Of Jimmy Savile is due to be shown on ITV1 at 11.10pm on Wednesday.According to ITV, the programme, which is presented by former detective Mark Williams-Thomas, features contributions from several women who claim that Sir Jimmy was a sexual predator who sexually assaulted them while they were under age.One woman alleges she was raped by the DJ and another says she was asked to perform a sex act on him.ITV said one of the contributors explained how she was too frightened to speak out while Sir Jimmy was alive.They said the programme will allege the broadcaster preyed on teenagers he invited to appear on his TV shows.One 14-year-old girl tells the programme how she met Sir Jimmy at a school in Surrey in 1974 and he assaulted her in his caravan, which was parked in the school grounds.The BBC responded to reports today that inappropriate behaviour by Sir Jimmy had been an "open secret" at the corporation by saying it had found no evidence of any misconduct by the broadcaster.In a statement, the BBC said: "The BBC has conducted extensive searches of its files to establish whether there is any record of misconduct or allegations of misconduct by Sir Jimmy Savile during his time at the BBC. No such evidence has been found."Whilst the BBC condemns any behaviour of the type alleged in the strongest terms, in the absence of evidence of any kind found at the BBC that corroborates the allegations that have been made it is simply not possible for the corporation to take any further action."The BBC also explained why an investigation by BBC2's Newsnight into Sir Jimmy was never broadcast.Newsnight editor Peter Rippon said: "It is absolutely untrue that the Newsnight investigation was dropped for anything other than editorial reasons."We have been very clear from the start that the piece was not broadcast because the story we were pursuing could not be substantiated."To say otherwise is false and very damaging to the BBC and individuals. The notion that internal pressure was applied appears to be a malicious rumour."

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Jimmy Savile's nephew voices disgust at child abuse claims

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