By a Newsnet reporter
The sex abuse scandal that has rocked the BBC has escalated following claims by a former newsreader that BBC Radio 1 presenter Dave Lee Travis groped her as she was live on air.
According to Vivien Creegor, who worked at the BBC in the 80s, Travis grabbed her breasts with both hands as she made an announcement on Radio 4.
Ms Creegor said: “I was sitting in the Radio 4 studio, which at the time backed on to the studio where Dave did his show. I could see him coming into the studio.
“I indicated to him to sit down but[…] as I went to speak his hands clamped down on my boobs over my jumper and moved them around. I didn’t have a choice. I couldn’t say anything to him because I had to finish my announcement. When I had, he sat down and started talking as if nothing had happened.”
She claimed that as an apprentice at the BBC and in her early twenties she did not lodge an official complaint out of fear for her career. Ms Creegor, who went on to become a news reader with SKY, claimed that the behaviour was part of the climate within the BBC at the time.
Mr Travis is also at the centre of another complaint from a woman who claims she was assaulted by the former Radio 1 star when she was just seventeen years old.
Describing the incident, the women who does not want to be named, claimed she was grabbed by Travis when she entered his studio at the BBC and assaulted.
“I went in. He turned off the lights so the technical operator couldn’t see what he was doing through the glass.
“He started grinding his groin into me. I didn’t know what was happening. I was still a virgin and I didn’t like it.
“He held me tighter and put his hand up my skirt and … in to my knickers.
“That’s when I pulled away and ran out of the door. Afterwards, I felt embarrassed and dirty. I went back to the technical operator and said: ‘You won’t believe what he’s just done’.” she said.
Mr Travis, who has issued a statement denying the allegations, has also been accused of inappropriate behaviour by a Sunday Times journalist who interviewed him recently and claimed that, “I don’t think there was a part of my body he did not grope.”
Camilla Long described how she interviewed the former BBC star earlier this year and added: “He fondled my foot, inched his hands up my thighs, tried to make me sit on his lap and kissed me.”
The BBC is coming under increasing pressure to address claims that a culture that allowed sex abuse was prevalent within the organisation. Many high profile female presenters have spoken of their fear of speaking out due to the culture that existed within the organisation. Esther Rantzen, who works with the Child Line Charity, described how she “closed her ears” to the rumours surrounding the late DJ.
There are also growing calls for the broadcaster to explain why it pulled a Newsnight programme that investigated allegations of paedophilia against the late Jimmy Savile, and followed the decision by broadcasting tributes to the former presenter.
Sir Michael Lyon, former BBC Trust chairman, has claimed that the BBC is the victim of “hysteria” over the scandal. However, claims by BBC bosses that they were unaware of the serious allegations against the late DJ were further called into question this weekend with revelations that a senior member of staff questioned Savile about sexual abuse rumours over 20 years ago.
Scotland Yard has said that there are around 60 possible victims of Savile – mostly women but some men. The Sun newspaper claims that the former BBC presenter’s youngest victim was a nine year old boy scout, whilst the Daily Star reports that Savile’s former driver said the star paid bribes to police officers to turn a blind eye to his exploits.
