Savile 'engineered' kids' TV shows to get close to youngsters
A second documentary about child abuser Jimmy Saville is set to be aired by ITV next week. In it the man who fronted the original investigation will reveal that the late childrens entertainer who was notorious for his kids TV shows for the BBC, came up with formats targeted at youngsters so he could continue his serial abuse.
Ex-police detective Mark Williams-Thomas says the DJ engineered shows specifically so he could get close to children. Last month two million viewers saw ITV1s Exposure documentary strand which revealed that the Jim'll Fix It Presenter sexually assaulted teenage girls while he was working for the BBC. And his abusive behaviour spanned four decades.
Since that documentary well over 300 potential victims have come forward and there are various lines of enquiry as to what happened and why, and also why the BBC's flagship current affairs programme Newsnight dropped the transmission of a planned investigation into similar allegations shortly after the late TV presenter's death last October.
In an interview with the Radio Times, Mark Williams-Thomas said : "But I can very clearly tell you now that he created his television series as a vehicle for his offending. I believe he engineered his programmes within the BBC and Radio Luxembourg in order to gain access to children."
Exposure Update will air on ITV1 next Wednesday 21 November at 1035pm.
Written and presented by Marverine Cole.