Former BBC DJ arrested in Savile probe

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LONDON, Nov. 15 (UPI) -- Longtime British disc jockey Dave Lee Travis was arrested Thursday on suspicion of sexual offenses 30 years ago.

Travis, who worked for the BBC's Radio 1 for many years, is the fourth person to be arrested following allegations that the late Jimmy Savile, a BBC disc jockey and television presenter, had molested children, The Independent reported. Earlier this month, Travis denied a woman's story that he groped her breasts while she was on air in the 1970s.

Travis also said "it was a different world" at the time.

After getting his start in offshore pirate radio, Travis worked for Radio 1 from the late 1960s to 1993. He also hosted "A Jolly Good Show," a music request program on the BBC World Service.

Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi became one of his fans. She said last year "A Jolly Good Show" made her world "much more complete" during her years of house arrest.

Police did not identify Travis as the person arrested, but neighbors said he had been taken to a police station in Aylesbury, Bedfordshire.

In a statement quoted by the BBC, police said the man "falls under the strand of the investigation we have termed 'others,'" meaning the allegations against him are unrelated to Savile.

Savile died last year at the age of 84 as a scandal broke over a television documentary that labeled the radio and BBC television host a prolific child abuser with hundreds of potential victims.

Police said Thursday a "vast majority" of the 450 possible victims they have identified were sexually abused by Savile.

"The police said a couple of weeks ago that Savile was a predatory sex offender -- one of the worst sex offenders that they had come across," said Danny Shaw, BBC home affairs correspondent. "The figures that we are being given today suggest that the scale of his offending is even worse than was first feared."

Former rock star Gary Glitter and comedian Fred Starr have also been charged. Starr, 69, has consistently denied any wrongdoing.

Scotland Yard arrested former BBC producer Wilfred De'Ath, who is in his 70s, Sunday, on suspicion of sexual offenses.