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A report on the sexual abuse allegations made against ex-BBC host Jimmy Savile found that the beloved TV star was accused of sexually abusing more than 450 people during his lifetime, yet was never formally charged with any crimes. Metropolitan Police say they have identified 214 separate crimes, plus 34 allegations of rape made across the nation over a 60-year period. Savile, who was knighted by the Queen in 1996, died in 2011 at the age of 84.
The Scotland Yard report paints an almost unimaginable level of systematic abuse that has been called "vast, predatory and opportunistic." Most of the victims were young teenage girls around 13 to 16 years old, but the youngest victim was eight, the oldest was 47, and he abused both boys and girls, men and women. At least 450 people have come forward to make claims since police began gathering evidence following his death. The BCC says police have stopped referring to the abuse as "alleged," because the complaints are so numerous, so similar, and so believable.
Police say that Savile "hid in plain sight" using his celebrity status both to lure in victims and protect himself from the allegations when they were made. Many of his crimes were committed at hospitals where he would to go visit with young patients, including a secure psychiatric hospital where Savile was given his own private room to meet with them. Police say victims were often intimidated or ignored due to Savile's stature among Britain's elite.
