In an effort to stem the quickly growing crisis, the BBC has suspended a well-known male presenter on claims that he paid a teenager for sexually explicit photos. A young person who used the money to support their crack cocaine habit is said to have received £35,000 from the anonymous BBC celebrity over the course of three years. The young person apparently introduced themselves to the BBC broadcaster when they were just 17 years old and allegedly gave her sexually explicit photos and performances. The corporation said on Sunday: “The BBC takes any allegations seriously and we have robust internal processes in place to proactively deal with such allegations. “This is a complex and fast-moving set of circumstances and the BBC is working as quickly as possible to establish the facts in order to properly inform appropriate next steps. “It is important that these matters are handled fairly and with care. “We have been clear that if – at any point – new information comes to light or is provided to us, this will be acted upon appropriately and actively followed up. “The BBC first became aware of a complaint in May. New allegations were put to us on Thursday of a different nature and in addition to our own inquiries we have also been in touch with external authorities, in line with our protocols. “We can also confirm a male member of staff has been suspended. We expect to be in a position to provide a further update in the coming days as the process continues. The BBC board will continue to be kept up to date.”