How did Jimmy Savile get found out? A timeline of the paedophile BBC DJ’s horrific sex crimes that took years to expose due to TV star’s unequivocal influence
A new one Netflix documentary about the terrible sexual crimes committed by ex BBC DJ Jimmy Savile will perform on Monday, October 9.
The upcoming show, titled The Reckoning, will provide an insight into how he managed to escape punishment for his crimes for such a long period.
So how exactly was he discovered? When was he officially accused of committing sexual offenses?
Read below for a full timeline of how Savile’s actions eventually came to light.
A still from the new BBC documentary entitled The Reckoning, which will give an insight into how Jimmy Savile (played in the film by Steve Coogan) managed to escape punishment for his crimes for such a long period tall
How did Jimmy Savile find out?
2011
October 29: Jimmy Savile dies aged 84.
November: Following his death, BBC Newsnight investigates historic allegations and has been told the Surrey case – where Savile was interviewed under surveillance by Surrey Police investigating an alleged indecent assault incident at Duncroft School, Surrey, in 2009 – it was removed as Savile was too old.
November 11: The BBC broadcasts a program paying tribute to Savile.
December 1: Newsnight editor Peter Rippon tells reporter Meirion Jones to stop working on aspects of the investigation because it is not strong enough without confirmation that the case was dropped because of Savile’s age.
In response, Jones argues why the BBC should continue with the story.
December 9: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) tells Jones they did not pursue the Surrey case due to a lack of evidence, denying the former BBC DJ’s evidence was a factor.
Jones admits the BBC wants to retract the story.
2012
January 8: Sunday Mirror reports that the Newsnight show was cut due to a clash with the tribute programme.
October: A criminal investigation called Operation Yewtree is launched after a flood of complaints. It focused on allegations of sexual abuse, focusing on child abuse, by Savile and other prominent figures.
October 3: ITV broadcasts Exposure: The Other Side of Jimmy Savile, which takes a look at the crimes committed by Savile.
Savile makes an appearance on the TV program ‘Calendar’ in 1970. Following his death in 2011, BBC Newsnight investigates the historic allegations and are shown the Surrey case – where Savile was interviewed under surveillance by Surrey Police investigating an incident of assault alleged indecency at Duncroft School, Surrey, in 2009 – dropped as Savile was too old
October 8: BBC director-general George Entwistle appears on the Today programme.
Newsnight reporter Liz Mackean emails him to express her displeasure at ‘Newsnight’s handling of the Savile story’.
Entwistle asks Ken MacQuarrie, director of BBC Scotland, to investigate why the show was axed.
October 17: The BBC asks Dame Janet Smith to investigate the culture at the BBC during the 1960s, 70s and 80s, when Savile worked for the broadcaster.
October 22: Panorama aired a special on Savile, entitled Jimmy Savile: What the BBC Knew.
October 23: Entwistle is asked to appear before the culture, media and sport select committee.
November 10: Entwistle resigns after meeting.
Savile prepares for the Bupa Great North Run in Newcastle on October 1, 2006
Coogan will portray Savile at several stages of his career, from his earlier presenting years to the later stages of his life (pictured: Coogan as an older Savile)
2013
January 11: The report by Scotland Yard, which collaborated with the NSPCC, reveals that Savile was a ‘predatory producer’ sex offender.
The report reveals 214 offenses in 28 police forces which occurred between 1955 and 2009.
His report, Giving Victims a Voice, added that 73 percent of the victims were children. It also revealed that Savile was able to hide ‘in plain sight’ thanks to his fame.
Operation Yewtree subsequently investigated many other television personalities who were Savile’s contemporaries.
Speaking at the time, Peter Watt of the NSPCC, described Savile as “one of the most prolific sex offenders we have ever come across”.
He continued: “It is clear that Savile cunningly constructed his entire life to gain access to vulnerable children.
The sheer scale of Savile’s abuse over six decades simply beggars belief.
“But with this report we can at least show his victims that they are taken seriously and their suffering recognised,” to news.
Savile was found to have bragged to NHS staff about performing sexual acts on the bodies of recently deceased people at Leeds General Infirmary mortuary.
Steve Coogan filming The Reckoning, in character as Jimmy Savile in one of the pedophile’s trademark tracksuits
2014
June 26: A report into Savile’s actions in NHS hospitals across the UK is presented to Jeremy Hunt, who was serving as Health Secretary at the time.
The report revealed the shocking actions of Savile, who was found to have assaulted victims in NHS hospitals for decades.
This included at Leeds General Infirmary, where 60 people (aged 5 to 75), including staff and patients, claimed to have been abused by Savile.
Savile was also found to have bragged to NHS staff that he had performed sexual acts on the bodies of recently deceased people at the Leeds General Infirmary mortuary.
Despite its findings, the report said: ‘We have no way of proving Savile’s claims that he tampered with the bodies of dead patients in the morgue in this way.’
2015
February 26: Another report at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, Buckinghamshire found he had sexually abused more than 50 people there, including staff, patients and visitors, with one victim aged just eight.
He concluded that it was widely known in the hospital that Savile was a “sex pest”.
Although 10 complaints were made at the time, no action was taken to report Savile.
On the same day, another report was published by lawyer Kate Lampard. It said: “Savile was a highly unusual personality whose lifestyle, behavior and offending patterns were equally unusual.
“As a result of his fame, volunteering and fundraising, he gained extraordinary access to a number of NHS hospitals and used the opportunities this access gave him to abuse patients, staff and others on an extraordinary scale.
‘Savile’s ability to continue to pursue his activities without effective challenge was aided by the hospital’s fragmented management arrangements; social attitudes of the time, including reticence in reporting and accepting reports of sexual harassment and abuse, and greater respect than today for those in positions of influence and power; and less bold and intrusive media reporting
“While it may be tempting to dismiss the Savile case as completely exceptional, a unique result of a perfect storm of circumstances, the evidence we have gathered shows that there are many elements of the Savile story that are likely to repeat themselves in the future.”
A report at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, Buckinghamshire found he had sexually abused more than 50 people there, including staff, patients and visitors, with one victim aged just eight. Pictured: Savile in 1968
2016
February: The findings of Dame Janet Smith’s report show that BBC staff missed many opportunities to stop Savile from committing sexual offences.
Smith identifies 72 people who were victims of sex crimes while Savile worked at the BBC, the youngest of whom was 10 years old.
The earliest reported incident was the rape of a 13-year-old girl at Lime Grove Studios in 1959, with other offenses by Savile up to 2006, at the last taping of Top of the Pops.
The review found misconduct had taken place in “virtually every BBC environment where he worked”.
Smith added that some BBC staff were aware of the complaints but did not pass the information on to senior management because of the ‘culture of not complaining’ at the corporation.
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