The mother of the young person at the centre of the BBC presenter scandal has reportedly insisted she stands by her claims after a lawyer branded the allegations “rubbish”.

In a letter to the BBC, the lawyer representing the young person cast doubt on The Sun’s story about the male star, who has not been publicly identified but is reportedly a “household name”.

The letter said “nothing inappropriate or unlawful” took place between the young person, now aged 20, and the presenter, according to the BBC.

The letter added the young person sent a denial to the newspaper on Friday evening, saying there was “no truth to it”.

However, the “inappropriate article” was still published, the lawyer told the corporation.

Read more: BBC presenter claims – live updates

After the BBC published the letter, the young person’s mother told The Sun: “It is sad but we stand by our account and we hope they get the help they need.

“We did this to help – and the presenter has got into their head. How did they afford a lawyer?

“We are so sad.”

The young person’s stepfather reportedly added: “We are disappointed they made a statement. It’s not true.”

The stepfather also claimed the BBC ignored emails sent on 19 May which allegedly included bank statements showing payments made by the presenter.

And he told The Sun that the BBC had lied when it said “new allegations” had led to the suspension of the presenter.

The stepfather said he was told that the new claims were that the youngster was 17 when contact began.

“They’re not telling the truth,” he said. “I told them the youngster was 20 and it had been going on for three years. It’s not hard to do the maths.”

He added: “I told the BBC I had gone to the police in desperation but they couldn’t do anything as they said it wasn’t illegal. They knew all of this.”

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2:30

What we know about claims against BBC star

What are the allegations?

According to The Sun, which first broke the story on Saturday, the presenter paid the young person about £35,000 in exchange for sexually explicit images during a three-year period.

He allegedly began requesting the images in 2020 when the individual was 17 years old and made a series of payments over the years.

The individual had reportedly used the money to fund an addiction to crack cocaine – that had “destroyed” their life, according to their mother.

It was also alleged the presenter stripped to his underwear during a video call with them.

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The Metropolitan Police said earlier on Monday it was “assessing information” supplied by the BBC over the claims.

The force is carrying out further enquiries to establish whether any crime has been committed following the allegations.

Representatives for the broadcaster have spoken to Met detectives, who said they are looking at the information discussed at the virtual meeting – but have not yet launched an investigation.

The BBC quoted a spokesperson for The Sun as saying: “We have reported a story about two very concerned parents who made a complaint to the BBC about the behaviour of a presenter and the welfare of their child.

“Their complaint was not acted upon by the BBC. We have seen evidence that supports their concerns. It’s now for the BBC to properly investigate.”

‘Huge development’

Sky’s home editor Jason Farrell said the comments from the young person’s lawyer were a “huge development”.

The BBC itself likely did not anticipate the lawyer’s statement, Farrell said.

He said a “massive amount of attention” will now be directed at The Sun, which has suggested the BBC did not investigate complaints by the young person’s parents appropriately.

Read more:
Presenter should only be named after ‘full’ investigation – justice secretary
Everything we know about the claims
Timeline of events as unnamed star suspended

Family members of the young person said they made a complaint to the BBC on 19 May, but approached The Sun after becoming frustrated the presenter was still on air a month later.

While the paper has not revealed the name of the star, they have said he is paid a six-figure salary and is currently off-air. He was suspended by the BBC on Sunday.

Following the publication of allegations in the press, the presenter is understood to have contacted the young person involved, phoning them and asking, “what have you done?”

In a statement issued by the BBC on Sunday, the corporation confirmed they first received a complaint about the presenter in May.

They said they were taking the allegations “very seriously,” and had gone on to suspend the presenter after receiving new allegations of a different nature in addition to their own enquiries.

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Jeremy Vine: ‘It can’t be me’

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Wrongly named presenter takes legal advice

Sir Craig Oliver, a former No 10 director of communications and ex-senior programme editor at BBC News, told Sky News it was “inevitable” there would be an inquiry into what the corporation knew and when.

He questioned if the current BBC processes were “fit for purpose in a social media world” and suggested the corporation would have to have a review of them.

Gary Lineker, Rylan Clark, Jeremy Vine and Nicky Campbell are among the BBC stars to have publicly stated that they are not the presenter in question.