Call Me Stormy

A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing

For decades, the late Jimmy Savile was idolized and lionized in Great Britain, hailed for his charity work, knighted by the Queen in 1990 and honored with a Papal knighthood by Pope John Paul II, also in 1990. The flamboyant host of the BBC’s Top of the Pops show introduced many of the leading musical acts of the 1960s. Later, he unveiled a new show, Jim’ll Fix It, in which he arranged for the wishes of his viewers, mainly children, to come true.

Now, in the wake of Savile’s death last fall, allegations have surfaced that his interest in children was hardly altruistic. More than 60 victims have stepped forward to claim he molested them. The victims paint a portrait of a serial and heinous pedophile, who used his position of authority to rape, fondle and brutalize young girls, some barely 12 or 13 at the time. It’s a case akin to the Jerry Sandusky sex scandal at Pennsylvania State University, but even creepier, because Saville’s targets were younger, more vulnerable and much more numerous.

Here is a chilling 50-minute documentary called Exposure: The Other Side of Jimmy Savile, in which former detective Mark Williams-Thomas investigates a few of the mounting allegations. The probe raises serious questions about complicity on the part of BBC officials in covering up Saville’s transgressions. Does one’s celebrity status place one above the law, free to prey upon the weakest in society? Apparently so. H/T Ed Driscoll