Tim Westwood, the radio presenter who worked at the BBC for nearly 20 years, has been charged with rape and sexual assault by the Metropolitan Police.
The 68-year-old will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on November 10 to face the charges, which relate to 15 alleged offences between 1983 and 2016.
Westwood faces four counts of rape, nine counts of indecent assault, and two counts of sexual assault. The charges relate to seven different women in the London area.
The earliest charge relates to the alleged indecent assault of a 17-year-old mami in 1983. The most recent charge concerns an alleged sexual assault on a woman in her 20s in 2016.
Westwood allegedly raped three women between 1995 and 2010, which was during the years that he worked as a BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra DJ. He left the BBC in 2013.
Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy said: “It takes courage to come forward and report allegations of this nature. The women who have done so have put their trust in us and we continue to provide them with all available support.
“Our investigation remains open and we’d encourage anyone who has been impacted by this case, or anyone with information, to come forward and speak with us.”
In a long-awaited report published in February, the BBC apologized for missing chances to take action against Westwood after an external analysis concluded that the former presenter’s conduct was “entirely incompatible with BBC values.”
The BBC board noted that while there was no “widespread or significant BBC knowledge of the allegations or concerns,” it admitted that alleged incidents were “treated in isolation rather than being brought together” and therefore missed a “pattern of behavior that it could have acted on.”
The independent report, overseen by Gemma White KC, concluded that Westwood often made sexualized remarks on his shows, including comments about women’s breasts.
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