Tim Westwood accused of sex with a 14-year-old
Former Radio 1 DJ Tim Westwood has received allegations from a woman who says they had sex several times starting when she was 14.
As reported by the BBC, the woman has described Westwood as a “predator”, stating that he was in his 30s at the time. She is the latest to come forward after sexual assault allegations were made against Westwood by multiple women, leading him to step down from his Capital Xtra radio show.
Westwood, 64, was accused of opportunistic and predatory sexual behaviour as well as instances of unwanted touching in incidents that are said to have occurred between 1992 and 2017. The accusations came to light in a joint investigation from The Guardian and BBC News, published on April 26. Westwood denies all allegations.
Seven women, who are all Black, gave detailed accounts to The Guardian about their alleged experiences with Westwood. They claimed to have met Westwood through his work. Some accused the DJ of abusing his power within the music industry in order to exploit women.
The alleged victims – whose names have been changed – also gave testimony as part of a new 30-minute documentary, Tim Westwood: Abuse of Power, which aired on BBC Three in April. It is available to watch now via the BBC iPlayer.
As well as the woman that said she was 14 when she first had sex with Westwood, another has come forward to detail what she says was a “controlling” relationship when she was 16 and Westwood was in his 40s.
In addition, two other women have said they were sexually assaulted by Westwood when they were in their mid-teens. These testimonies and others will be included in a new BBC News documentary, Hip Hop’s Open Secret: Tim Westwood, which is available to watch on the iPlayer now.
In response to the initial BBC documentary, a spokesperson for the DJ said: “Our client confirms that there has never been any complaint made against him, whether officially or unofficially, relating to claims of inappropriate behaviour of the nature described.”
Earlier this month, the BBC revealed that they received six allegations of misconduct against Tim Westwood, one of which was handed over to police.
This is despite the corporation’s Director General Tim Davie saying in a statement made back in April that “no evidence of complaints” had been found.
Speaking on Tuesday (July 12), Davie said claims against Westwood would be investigated and a report published within two weeks. “We have an internal audit separate to myself working to the senior independent director, Nick Serota, going through now, responding to anything that is coming into us,” he commented.
“We have no objective apart from to ensure everything is flushed out and we understand exactly what happened with regards to the BBC and also to do the right thing and [ensure] any cases are looked at.”