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Ex-BBC DJ found guilty of indecent assault

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Dave Lee Travis, one of Britain’s best-known radio DJs of the 1970s and 1980s, was given a suspended jail term on Friday despite being convicted of “nasty” indecent assault on a female television researcher in 1995. Travis is the latest celebrity to have been convicted of sex crimes in the wake of the British police employing a more muscular posture towards sexual abuse allegations against media luminaries.

Known for his stint as DJ of the show Top of the Pops on BBC Radio 1, Travis, 69, was found guilty on Tuesday, reported Reuters. But he was told by the judge that although the offence was serious enough to warrant a three-month prison sentence, mitigating factors meant he would suspend that jail term.

The victim, who chose to retain anonymity, was working on television’s Mrs Merton Show when Travis cornered her in the corridor of the studio, where she was smoking. He commented on her “poor little lungs” before inappropriately groping her, reported BBC News.

“During two trials, Travis, appearing under his real name of David Griffin, was cleared of a string of sexual offences against women over three decades. However, he was convicted of one charge of assaulting a 22-year-old victim in 1995,” said Judge Anthony Leonard at London’s Southwark Crown Court. “It was a nasty thing to do, but it was more than that. It was an intentional and unpleasant sexual assault.”

In a victim impact statement, read out at London’s Southwark Crown Court ahead of Travis’ sentencing, the victim wrote, “I was a naïve and trusting 22-year-old when I was subjected to unprovoked and terrifying physical assault at my place of work. I was too paralysed with fear to confront my assailant.”

The judge said that although Travis’ crime was serious, mitigating factors such as his deteriorating health and impact on future job prospects meant the three-month jail term could be suspended. Following the sentence, Travis said he was “mortified” and “really disappointed” over his conviction. He denied all the accusations, describing himself as a “big, hairy, cuddly bear,” who was tactile but not a sexual predator. He accused the women of making up the claims for money. The victim told the court that she would not claim compensation “now, or in the future.”

The news surfaces after, the late Jimmy Savile, one of BBC’s top TV presenters, was accused of sexual assault as part of the British police’s Operation Yewtree. Findings of the investigation showed that Savile had sexually abused hundreds of victims over decades.

The news will expectedly mar Travis’ glorious career, which spans over almost five decades. Among fans of his show was Nobel Peace Prize-winner Aung San Suu Kyi, who singled out his weekly show on the BBC World Service for making her world “much more complete” during her 15 years under house arrest between 1989 and 2010.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 28th, 2014.

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