Sex abuse victims say Stuart Hall assaulted them at BBC studio

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Published: May 3, 2013 at 4:47 PM

by Biodun Iginla and Emily Straton, BBC News, London

LONDON, May 3  -- Two women who alleged they were sexually abused by former BBC presenter Stuart Hall say the abuse happened at the BBC's Manchester headquarters.
Both victims were invited to the BBC headquarters in the 1960s and 1970s by Hall after he met them at award shows at their schools, The Daily Telegraph reported Friday.
One of the victims, who anonymously wrote a letter to The Independent newspaper about her abuse, said she was invited to tour the studio where Hall allegedly gave her champagne and raped her. The incident happened in the 1970s when she was a teenager.
"He took advantage of my youth, naiveties, loneliness and manipulated me into having sex," she said.
The other victim said Hall invited her to record a song at the studio in 1967 when she was 15. She thought was the "opportunity of a lifetime."
However, the experience was very unprofessional and ended with Hall taking her out for drinks and driving her home in his car, where he allegedly sexually assaulted her, the woman said.
"All of a sudden he brought his left hand over my right leg and then moved his hand up my skirt and started touching me," she said. "I was shocked and terrified. It went on for a couple of minutes. But then I quickly moved to the left of the car and away from him."
The Independent forwarded the letter it received to police, which in turn opened an investigation into Hall, who was a presenter on "Look North," a local BBC news program, and the show "It's a Knockout."
Hall, 83, has since admitted to assaulting 13 girls as young as nine and fired by the BBC. It wasn't reported as to whether the two victims who said they were assaulted at the BBC headquarters were among those Hall admitted to assaulting.
Angie Bray, a Conservative member of the culture, media and sport select committee, said: "They have to look at this all over again. Depressingly, we see a pattern developing. Jimmy Savile is not just a one-off."
Savile, another former BBC personality, has been accused of sexually abusing underage girls and boys and adults. He died in 2011.
Several other BBC personnel have been investigated for their alleged involvement in or complicity in the sexual abuse of young people by BBC personalities.
A BBC spokesman said: "We are aware of a number of allegations that have been made in relation to Stuart Hall and where appropriate these are being passed on to the police or the Dame Janet Smith review."