Jimmy Savile case: U.K. cops detail "unprecedented" child, teen sex abuse

Jimmy Savile in Newcastle, England, Oct. 1, 2006. / Getty

LONDON British police say the late entertainer Jimmy Savile committed more than 200 sex crimes over more than half a century, with most victims children and teens assaulted the length and breadth of Britain, from TV studios to hospitals and even a hospice.

Police said in a report released Friday that the scale of Savile's sex abuse was "unprecedented in the UK." They have recorded 214 offenses allegedly committed by Savile, including 34 rapes. In all, 450 people have come forward with information about abuse by the late TV presenter.

The number of Savile's crimes is likely to rise beyond 214 as more victims' reports were officially recorded, said Detective Superintendent David Gray, the chief investigating police officer.

Savile's victims would be disappointed he had not faced justice in his lifetime, said Cmdr. Peter Spindler, a senior police officer.

"I hope that we have been able to bring some satisfaction for them. ... The victims themselves will get some sense of satisfaction from being heard.

"This whole sordid affair has demonstrated the tragic consequences of what happens when vulnerability collides with power," Spindler said.

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Savile, he said, "groomed a nation" for sex abuse.

Peter Watt, of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, said Savile was an "evil and manipulative man" who "cunningly built his entire career around gaining access to vulnerable children."

The alleged crimes took place between 1955 and 2009.

Victims ranged from a 10-year-old boy who said he was sexually assaulted after he asked for an autograph to children who said they were groped when they attended a popular music show, and pupils at a school for troubled girls who were allegedly offered cigarettes and trips in Savile's car in return for sex.

Savile allegedly committed 57 offenses at medical establishments, including a hospice, and 14 at schools, and 33 at television or radio stations; 73 percent of his victims were under 18.

The catalog of abuse is the fullest accounting yet of the allegations against Savile, a TV and radio personality who died in 2011 at age 84.



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[Kovacsmaster]

You would of thought that one parent would of acted in a violent way and
ended the abuse decades ago.... Hard to imagine that so many victims stayed quite for so long.... Not enough to go on here, where there is smoke there is fire, but hard to tell its source sometimes..... On to the next story...

[FalseAccusations]

73% were under the age of 18? Tell us again what was the age of consent in the UK when each alleged incident took place - and the ages of the accusers at the time of each incident? So if 73% were 16 and the age of consent was 16 at the time, then you're just trying to sensationalize the story when in fact no crime would have been committed - that is if you could actually prove by fact and evidence that the encounters between the accusers and the accused actually occurred - which you can't.

[FalseAccusations]

More false-awareness tabloid garbage from AP's network in the UK. 450 accusers and not a single item of evidence? No photographs? Not one pregancy/abortion? No medical records whatsoever? And not a single accuser can describe his anatomy or has any recollection whatsoever of birthmarks/moles/etc. The corrupt Brits clearly took lessons from the AP's network here in the US when the Sandusky lie was promoted and exagerrated from a pre-guilt perspective...with absolutely no evidence or (credible) witness to support the accusations. And Peter Watt of the NSPCC is a "dangerously deceptive false awareness panic junkie who has to wait until someone dies to make such baseless no proof accusations against a mans reputation, because that's how false awareness panic junkies operate - no evidence, presume guilt, use media friends to sell your trash."

[js555554]

You sound like someone that might have something to hide.

[Vinnygr]

So you're saying he is innocent, thats fine you're entitled to your opinion. My opinion is that he was a paedo of the worst kind, using power and charity to cover his tracks and that you probably helped him.

[jtdev1]

Just like Sandusky...

More people knew what was going on but didn't say a word as long as the money kept coming in.

[st247]

looks like scum