We went to the Met Police to ask for the latest on the BBC scandal and here’s what they told us

The Met Police has asked the BBC to pause its investigation into whether an unnamed presenter paid a teenager for sexually explicit photos, while police assess whether a criminal offense has taken place.

The BBC has suspended a male member of staff after The Sun newspaper reported he paid a young person around £35,000 over three years, from the age of 17, for explicit images.

The young person at the centre of the controversy has said “nothing inappropriate or unlawful” took place between them and the presenter.

The lawyer representing the young person said the claim, which was made by their parents, was “rubbish”.

BBC director-general Tim Davie is due to face the media today (Tuesday July 11) for a scheduled briefing following the release of the corporation’s annual report, although the controversy is expected to dominate the agenda.

The report, planned before the allegations came out, is an assessment of the BBC’s performance over the last 12 months.

What is the Met Police saying?

The Met Police said it has asked the BBC to pause its investigation while Scotland Yard carries out its assessment of whether a criminal offence has taken place.

In a statement the Met said: “We have asked the BBC to pause its own investigation while we continue our assessment to establish whether there is evidence of a criminal offence being committed.

“The assessment is being led by detectives from the Met’s Specialist Crime Command and follows a virtual meeting with representatives from the BBC on the morning of Monday, 10 July.

“There remains no police investigation at this time.”

The Sun newspaper

In a letter sent on Monday to the BBC, the lawyer said the young person had sent a message to the paper on Friday (July 7) via WhatsApp saying the statement made by their mother was "totally wrong and there was no truth to it".

Nonetheless, the Sun newspaper proceeded to publish the "inappropriate article”, the letter said.

In response, a spokesperson for the Sun told the BBC the paper had reported a story about "two very concerned parents who made a complaint to the BBC about the behaviour of a presenter and the welfare of their child".

It added that it had seen evidence to back the mother’s claims.

The lawyer has said press reporting had amounted to an invasion of privacy and criticised both the Sun and the BBC for not contacting their client.

The lawyer wrote: "Nobody from the Sun newspaper appears to have made any attempt to contact our client prior to the publication of the allegations on Friday July 6”.

After the BBC disclosed parts of the young persons legal letter, the Sun published a new story on Monday evening with the mother and step-father who had made the claims confirming they stand by their allegations.

The article reported that the step-father went to police about the matter but was told "they couldn’t do anything as they said it wasn’t illegal".

The BBC said on Sunday that a staff member had been suspended but it did not identify him. The individual, who was said to be 17 when the payments began, has also not been identified.

The Sun reported that the presenter at the centre of the claims he paid a teenager for explicit pictures allegedly appeared in his underwear in a video call.

The young person’s mother told The Sun she saw a picture of the presenter on her child’s phone in which he was “sitting on a sofa in his house in his underwear” and she said she was told it was “a picture from some kind of video call”.

The BBC said it was working as fast as possible "to establish the facts in order to properly inform appropriate next steps".