FILE - In this April 12, 2007 file photo, British Broadcasting Corporation Director-General Mark Thompson pauses during a news conference calling for the release of kidnapped BBC journalist Alan Johnston, in the West Bank city of Ramallah. The child abuse scandal centered on the late BBC star Jimmy Savile has raised some uncomfortable for the corporation’s former boss, now only weeks away from taking his position as the chief executive of The New York Times. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen, File)
October 24, 2012 - 4:36 AM
LONDON - The chairman of the BBC Trust has underscored the organization's independence, issuing a thinly-veiled warning to the British government to refrain from interfering in the pedophile investigation into late entertainer Jimmy Savile.
Chris Patten exchanged letters Tuesday with Culture Secretary Maria Miller. In his letter, he insisted that the trust wanted the inquiries in the scandal to be comprehensive and independent.
But he also told Miller that he knows she wouldn't "want to give any impression that you are questioning the independence of the BBC."
The BBC has been rocked by allegations that Savile abused underage teens over several decades, sometimes on BBC premises. Some of the alleged victims have accused other entertainers and BBC staff of participating in abuse during the 1960s, 70s and 80s.
Savile died last year.
News from © The Associated Press, 2012