The depiction of what Peter Spindler, a police commander, called a “vast, predatory and opportunistic” record of misconduct offered the latest gruesome indictment in a scandal that has plunged the British Broadcasting Corporation, Mr. Savile’s longtime employer, into crisis; drawn in a mounting tally of suspects and victims; and raised questions about the protection of children from predators in supposedly safe institutions.
In the process, Mr. Savile’s public image has been transformed. Once seen as a zany national treasure with a near-saintly commitment to charitable work with children — knighted by Pope John Paul II and Queen Elizabeth II — he is now blamed for one of Britain’s most extensive catalogs of abuse.
“It is clear that Savile cunningly built his entire life into gaining access to vulnerable children,” said Peter Watt, a senior official of the children’s advocacy group, the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, speaking at a joint news conference with police officials.
The report said Mr. Savile used his status as a celebrity to “hide in plain sight” as he committed criminal offenses in 28 police jurisdictions over nearly six decades.
The locations included the premises of the BBC, Britain’s public broadcaster; a home for disturbed adolescent girls; and 14 medical facilities, like hospitals, mental health units and a hospice. The cases covered the years 1955 to 2009. The youngest victim was an 8-year-old boy, the report said, and the oldest was 47.
Separately, the Crown Prosecution Service acknowledged that three victims who accused Mr. Savile of abuse in 2009 were not taken seriously enough. “I would like to take the opportunity to apologize for the shortcomings in the part played by the Crown Prosecution Service in these cases,” Keir Starmer, the director of public prosecutions, said in a statement.
According to the report, the majority of the victims — 73 percent — were under 18. A total of 450 people came forward to accuse Mr. Savile after the scandal exploded in October, and the police concluded that the number of crimes he is accused of committing totals 214, 34 of them rapes.
Most of the victims were 13 to 16, and 82 percent of them were girls, the report said.
The offenses peaked between 1966 and 1976, the report said. “His peak offending came with the peak of his success,” said Detective Superintendent David Gray, who works in a Scotland Yard unit investigating sexual crimes against children.
During his time at the BBC, Mr. Savile played a central role in two shows — “Top of the Pops,” featuring rock bands playing their latest hits, and “Jim’ll Fix It,” in which Mr. Savile responded to requests from viewers. Both shows gave him direct access to audiences of young people, some seeking his advice and help on “Jim’ll Fix it.” His charitable work also took him to hospitals and other health facilities in his hometown, Leeds, in the north, to Stoke Mandeville in Buckinghamshire, near London.
Detective Gray said Mr. Savile must have thought about abuse “every minute of every working day.”
The bald statistics gave a clearer insight into the scope of the accusations against Mr. Savile, which the prosecutor, Mr. Starmer, depicted as a “watershed moment” in Britain’s handling of abuse cases.
Commander Spindler said Mr. Savile “cannot face justice today, but we hope this report gives some comfort to his hundreds of victims.”
The report raised some questions about the culture of the era in which Mr. Savile rose to prominence as television audiences grew, feeding in part on a revolution in pop music. “It was an age of different social attitudes, and the workings of the criminal justice system at the time would have reflected this,” the report said.
There have also been questions about the motives of some of his accusers.
Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/12/world/europe/jimmy-savile-sexual-abuse-scandal-report.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
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