How Jimmy Savile evaded justice for six decades

A new Netflix documentary about Jimmy Savile has revealed the extent of his abuse of young victims as critics ask how the sex offender was able to evade justice during his lifetime. 

The two-part show highlights how effortlessly Savile appeared to – in the words of a police investigator – “groom the nation”, and how the DJ and TV presenter hid behind his status within the media establishment. 

Although some questions were raised about his private life, and although Savile even alluded to being an abuser on multiple occasions, the Metropolitan Police investigation into the allegations, known as Operation Yewtree, was not launched until 2012, a year after his death.

Role of the BBC

In the years since Savile’s death, at the age of 84, the BBC has been criticised for appearing to turn a blind eye to allegations levelled at the presenter of the corporation’s big-hitting Top of the Pops and Jim’ll Fix It programmes.

In 2012, it emerged that Savile had been secretly banned from the BBC’s Children in Need appeal “because of ‘rumours’ of his interest in young girls”, reported the Daily Mail. 

Roger Jones, the former chair of Children in Need, said: “We all recognised he was a creepy sort of character. We took the decision that we didn’t want him near the charity.” Savile had appeared on the programme in 1984, 1987 and 1989, before Jones became chair.

Following Savile’s death, inquiries were held into the culture at the BBC. Two “damning” reports published in February 2016 found that serious failings at the corporation had enabled Savile to sexually abuse around 100 people “without detection for decades”, reported The Guardian.

The reports found that BBC staff were “more worried about reputation than the safety of children” and that although the criminal behaviour was largely the fault of the perpetrator, the corporation “could have stopped it but failed to do so”. 

However, the reports also said there was no evidence that the BBC as a corporate body was aware of Savile’s abuse.

Conservative Party

Blame has also been laid at the door of the Conservative Party for not only letting Savile get away with decades of abuse, but also for entrenching his status in society and making him feel increasingly untouchable. 

Article source: https://www.theweek.co.uk/news/crime/956365/how-jimmy-savile-evaded-justice-for-six-decades