Rippon steps down over Savile report

LONDON, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- Peter Rippon says he is stepping down as BBC Newsnight editor while the British broadcaster investigates why he scrapped a report on Jimmy Savile last year.

Savile, a popular television and radio personality, died in October 2011 at the age of 84. He has since been accused by numerous women of sexually abusing them when they were young teens.

Police are investigating the matter and say Savile may have assaulted as many as 25 young girls, some in his BBC studio dressing room, hospitals or boarding schools, over five decades. The allegations came to light this month when ITV ran interviews with some of the alleged victims.

Rippon has said he canceled a similar BBC Newsnight report for editorial reasons, largely because it did not prove some institutional failure by the police regarding Savile's alleged abuse.

However, the program's producer and lead journalist said they had enough material and interviews to air a program alleging Savile was a pedophile.

The investigation into why the segment was quashed is being conducted by former Sky News head Nick Pollard, the BBC said.