Jimmy Savile accused in ITV documentary

Telegraph.co.uk

Tuesday 13 November 2012

Jimmy Savile engineered his hit television shows to gain access to children he could abuse, the former policeman who helped expose the late entertainer as a paedophile has claimed.

By Sam Marsden7:00AM GMT 13 Nov 2012
The TV presenter and radio DJ created shows such as Top of the Pops and Jim’ll Fix It with the aim of enabling him to carry out sex attacks on hundreds hundreds of victims, the expert said.
Mark Williams-Thomas, a former child protection officer, is now working on a follow-up programme to his original ITV1 documentary about Savile’s abuse, which shocked the nation and triggered a crisis at the BBC when it was broadcast last month.
The new film looks at the full extent of the presenter’s predatory attacks on young girls and a smaller number of boys from his time at Radio Luxembourg in the 1950s onwards.
It also examines how he got away with it for so long, and whether the British establishment turned a blind eye.
Mr Williams-Thomas, who has spoken to more than 35 of Savile’s victims, said he had concluded that the TV star deliberately set up his shows so he could abuse children.
"In the previous programme it was unclear what came first. But I can very clearly tell you now that he created his television series as a vehicle for his offending,” he told the Radio Times.
"I believe he engineered his programmes within the BBC and Radio Luxembourg in order to gain access to children.
"The classic examples are Top Of The Pops, Savile's Travels, Jim'll Fix It - all of them gave him access to young children. That's why there were so many victims."
Mr Williams-Thomas said he realised just how wide the ramifications of his documentary were when Savile’s family removed the entertainer’s headstone from his grave and dumped it in landfill.
He said: “It was such a significant step. I don’t know why it shocked me but it did. It was a visual image – a message to the public from the family that said: ‘We believe this man was a child abuser.’”
The former policeman said he was uneasy about compensation-seeking lawyers becoming involved in the scandal because people might begin to question the victims’ motives.
He added: “That’s not the case for any of the victims we’ve included in the programme or any of those I’ve spoken to. They don’t want a penny from Savile. They just want the truth to be on record, to be listened to, to be believed.”
Scotland Yard launched an investigation into historic sexual abuse by Savile and others after the ITV documentary was broadcast on October 3.
So far detectives have identified about 300 potential victims and are following up more than 400 lines of inquiry.

Mirror.co.uk

Jimmy Savile child abuse probe: TV star's close friends flee country as scandal probe grows

11 Nov 2012 00:00
At least two friends, who both worked at the BBC and were part of Savile’s inner circle in the late 1950s and early 60s, have gone abroad

Some of Jimmy Savile’s closest cronies – who police want to quiz over child abuse allegations – have fled Britain, the Sunday Mirror can reveal.

At least two friends, who both worked at the BBC and were part of Savile’s inner circle in the late 1950s and early 60s, have gone abroad.

They are of “great interest” to police, say investigators.

A source said: “Their names have come up. They face some ­uncomfortable ­questions.

"They may have been key ­players in what he was up to.” Neither were at their homes ­yesterday.

A neighbour of one said: “I haven’t seen him for a while now.

"I did have a phone call from him just after this kerfuffle started, ­apologising for any trouble I may be ­receiving by people calling for him.

"He didn’t volunteer where he was phoning from and I didn’t ask.”

Ex-cop Mark Williams-Thomas, who ­revealed the scandal in ITV’s Exposure, said: “People are looking over their shoulders and lying low.”

It is understood a second ­ITV ­programme will focus on Savile’s early career and his inner circle.

Investigators believe Savile may have abused children in the late 1940s, when he was a DJ in dance halls.

The inquiry into hundreds of abuse claims has seen Gary Glitter, 68, ­and Freddie Starr, 69, arrested.

Savile’s chauffeur Ray Teret, 71, has also been quizzed. All deny any wrongdoing.