An unnamed BBC presenter is facing allegations he paid a teenager tens of thousands of dollars for sexually explicit photos and sat in his underwear for the child "to perform for him" via video call.
The allegations, published in The Sun newspaper, allege the presenter gave the teen £35,000 (NZ$72,000) since they were 17 in return for the images.
The star has been pulled off the air but has not been suspended while the claims are investigated.
Speaking to The Sun, the alleged victim's mother said they had used to money to fund a drug habit, and said the star was "destroying my child's life".
"Taking my child’s innocence and handing over the money for crack cocaine that could kill my child,” she said.
The mother also said she saw him on the teen's phone stripped to his underpants "getting ready for my child to perform for him".
The Sun said the young person's family complained to the BBC on May 19.
A BBC spokesperson said: "We treat any allegations very seriously and we have processes in place to proactively deal with them.
"As part of that, if we receive information that requires further investigation or examination we will take steps to do this. That includes actively attempting to speak to those who have contacted us in order to seek further detail and understanding of the situation.
"If we get no reply to our attempts or receive no further contact that can limit our ability to progress things but it does not mean our enquiries stop.
"If, at any point, new information comes to light or is provided - including via newspapers - this will be acted upon appropriately, in line with internal processes."
Several BBC presenters have taken to social media to deny they were the star in question, including ylan Clark, Jeremy Vine, Nicky Campbell and Gary Lineker.
SHARE ME