goonerseba

As Patsy says though, the spin seems to be against the BBC and institutions he frequented and was some kind of patron with golden keys. The lawyers will push for accountability with the inevitable compo claim attached from this angle, without a criminal prosecution possible against sir jim.

I always though DLT was a bit dodgy, but I did like his "snooker on the radio" quiz.

I've left the door wide open for all the "pink or brown ?" quotes btw...

scrubbedexpat141

You're probably right (I don't actually know about how to get compensation etc).

I agree with everything Patsy said though, why didn't these dozens of people come forward sooner? When he was alive?

goonerseba

yep - Patsy's spot on.

I don't know why - but for fear of being contraversial or trivialising the situation (which i'm not), is it because "things were different back then" ?

He was also a major celeb and charity fund raiser and to most of the unsuspecting 60's/70's/80's public, a lovable old geezer so who would believe such accusations ? And if the stories coming out are to believed, he was reported and people did come forward but they were ignored or hushed-up.

The press will run with this for weeks now and open up endless cans of worms - i bet every other DJ of that era is lying low now.

scrubbedexpat141

This is the worrying bit.

The Dean

Esther Rantzen was notably evasive on the news last night......... 'Did Childline (the child abuse help line she set up) ever get any calls from Savile's alleged victims?' etc.............

Theseus

So - The way i see it:

1) The victims were very unlikely to come forward because imagine your a young girl or boy and a major celebrity fondles you a bit. I can only go on my own experience (not with Jimmy Saville) but an older man comes on to you when you're vulnerable, has a bit of a fondle and its really disturbing but in the grand scheme of things you'll get over it and probably be a bit more wary of older men in future. Not saying this is how it should be or that these men should get away with it, but it happens and it certainly happened much more frequently in previous era's (pre-internet). Not many people would report it, often because it is a family friend or someone important and you're scared to tell. Whats awful about that is that these men are generally capable of being really dangerous and capable of taking it much further and its not until they do take it to a "more serious" stage that they do get reported and sometimes not even then.

2) The adults who knew would be scared for their jobs, victims of his creepiness themselves or friends. You have to be mindful that these types of men can be very very manipulative and can convince people that nothing untoward has really happened, its easy to do that because people don't want to believe it and so will grab on to any excuse to pretend its not happening.

3) There was a culture of sexual harrassment of women in the 70s and 80s in most organisations. Therefore the fact that he was a bit of a creep was not unusual and blowing any whistles would have put your own job at risk.

I had a friend who was training to be a nurse at Stoke Mandeville and she said to me she'd met him and he was a creepy old b**tard to the nurses, apparently he used to take their hands to kiss them and then lick them instead (gross), but, she didn't know about any other abuse going on.

Now all these people are coming out of the woodwork and its probably more to do with the fact that their own experiences have been validated by all the other people who have been victims and are speaking out. Allegedly

goonerseba

Karma given for most straight-talking and plausible insight so far

Theseus

Thanks

The Dean

Good points - but terrifying implications............ are you suggesting there are - literally - thousands of women now in, say, their forties who may have been sexually molested by adults when they were young girls, but who have never spoken out?? Blimey - I hope they all do now. Maybe some good might actually come out of all this.........

NorthernLad

My mother-in-law and her three sisters were all abused by their father, over many years. It did not come out until he died, until people are in that situation it's very difficult to understand. The damage that old ****er did will never be repaired and even several years after he died repercussions are still being felt.

Theseus

That's exactly what i'm saying. Whats really terrifying is that there are very manipulative men, and women I should add, that purposely worm their way in to positions of trust purely so they have access to underage girls and boys.

I looked at the BBC news site earlier and it did say that there had been an increase in reporting of sexual assaults dating back to this time period, not involving saville so you might be right in that some good might come of it.

What's also really scary is that when it's a family friend or even a relative the family will often refuse to believe the victim. Even though they are educated, intelligent people who you would think would deal with it well.
I don't mean to sound like a profit of doom and these people are pretty rare, but it does happen.

I happen to know of someone who was convicted of taking innapropriate photos of his step daughter. He had also admitted making inappropriate advances towards her though apparently no actual abuse took place. His wife quite rightly left him and he has now managed to shack up with a new woman who has 3 young girls. The police although they have their suspicions about his motives can't do anything as his probation order does not prevent him from having contact with children, just his stepdaughter. The new woman knows his history and has been convinced by him that it was all some big misunderstanding. Also most of his family have stopped contact with the step daughter and ex wife as they continue to believe she made it all up, no matter what anyone else says.

People are stupid and choose to be blind rather than have to deal with difficult stuff. I'm pretty angry about that you might notice that.

scrubbedexpat141

It's easy as an outisder looking in, having not had to deal with being sexually abused, so I understand it is common for people to not want to talk about it or complain / report it.

It's a shame. These people should be brought to justice when alive.

britexpat76

Absolutely and any man caught doing this heinous crime should be castrated.

Beakersful

The figures for the West are believed to be:

1 in 4 women will have been molested growing up.
1 in 20 men will have been molested growing up.
(These figures cover the full spectrum of offences against them, from minor to major)

I won't mention other regions, because even with published, peer reviewed data on the subject, those from certain areas will go to war with anyone who attempts to publish figures that look remarkably similar. It's not a Western "decadence" or lower morals issue, it appears to be a symptom of certain humans acting like the animals they are slimly removed from.

soukie

So I wonder when all this will come out? I really wish that JS was still alive to face his past. I suppose he would try and talk his way out of it like this :

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19914428