Police: Savile may have assaulted 25 young girls

LONDON, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- Police in England say they are investigating claims BBC personality Jimmy Savile sexually abused as many as 25 girls, dating back to 1959.

Savile died in 2011 at age 84.

The Daily Telegraph quoted Scotland Yard as saying officers are pursuing 120 different lines of inquiry in the case, including contacting staff at the Stoke Mandeville and Leeds General Infirmary hospitals where Savile did charity work to see if he abused any patients there.

"Information is coming in, as we speak probably," the Telegraph reported Commander Peter Spindler, head of Specialist Crime Investigations, said at a press conference Tuesday. "The reality is this really has captured the public's mind. We are getting calls from victims, from witnesses and third parties who believe they know something about it. We have formally recorded eight criminal allegations against Savile. Two of those are rape, six of indecent assault. These are primarily against girls in their mid-teens, so between 13 and 16 and it spans four decades of abuse."

Spindler emphasized the BBC is not under investigation.

The broadcaster has said it is fully cooperating with police on the case.