In December 2012, former BBC presenter Jimmy Savile was exposed as one of Britain’s most prolific sex offenders following a joint Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) and NSPCC investigation known as Operation Yewtree. The inquiry concluded that there were at least 450 victims of Savile’s abuse, with the incidents spanning from 1955 to 2009.
Investigators found that Savile had used his celebrity status and connections to gain access to institutions, including hospitals, schools, and charities, where he could prey upon vulnerable children and adults. The victims were typically young people who were taken in by the charm of a famous television personality and trusted him as an authority figure.
The revelations about Savile’s predatory behavior prompted widespread shock and outrage throughout British society, leading to soul-searching about how such a horrific series of crimes could have gone unchecked for so long. As part of this introspection, the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) conducted an investigation into the handling of allegations against Savile by the Metropolitan Police Service and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS.
The IICSA report, released in July 2019, criticized both police and prosecutors for their failure to adequately investigate and prosecute Savile during his lifetime. The inquiry found that there was a “clear case” against Savile based on the allegations collected against him at the time of his death in October 2011.
Despite this, the investigation into Savile was closed by police under express direction from the CPS. The reviewing lawyer for the allegations – an experienced “rape specialist” – informed officers early on that he would not be inclined to prosecute these cases because they were “relatively minor.” This assessment troubled the inquiry investigator, who noted that Savile’s alleged assaults represented a “course of conduct against vulnerable women and girls by a man who was in effect in a position of trust.
The IICSA report found that police treated the allegations with caution, which it deemed neither justified nor required. It also highlighted significant inconsistencies between various records related to the case, making it difficult to assess what happened or why certain decisions were made. Most alarmingly, all CPS files on Savile were destroyed in October 2010 under a “normal policy” of automatically deleting documents related to discontinued cases after five years – a clear breach of the Service’s own guidelines.
The IICSA report stopped short of accusing police or prosecutors of consciously trying to protect Savile, but it did express reservations about the way in which these key institutions handled the case. In particular, the investigator pointed out that had law enforcement and the CPS taken a different approach, it might have been possible to build a case against Savile and bring him to justice during his lifetime.
The revelations about Savile’s abuse and subsequent cover-up by institutions meant to protect children have had far-reaching consequences for British society. In addition to prompting numerous other investigations into historical child sexual abuse cases, the scandal has led to increased scrutiny of how powerful figures can exploit their positions to commit heinous crimes with impunity.
As a result of this ongoing process of reckoning and accountability, it is hoped that future generations will be better equipped to prevent such horrors from occurring again in our midst.