Last October thousands of people lined the streets to pay tribute to the late Sir Jimmy Savile. Sir Jimmy, considered by many a National treasure, was the former star of pirate radio and the very first host of TVs Top of the pops. Probably best known for making kids' dreams come true on Jim'll fix it, Sir Jimmy was rumoured to have raised £40million for charity and was knighted in 1990.
 Just twelve short months later it seems there were also better kept rumours about Savile throughout his career.
It has emerged that rumours of child abuse followed Savile for decades. Apparently, it was well known in television and radio that the fund raiser liked to keep the company of young girls.
The BBC, the self appointed highest authority in the land, "auntie beeb" as it was known for years, is accused of covering up the rumours to protect its star.
A long list of celebrity journalists and presenters have come forward to say that they knew of the rumours. Some claim to have seen the vile behaviour first hand, some even claim to have been victims.
Janet Street Porter, one of the Best known and influential women journalists of the last 30 years, told BBC question time last week that she heard the rumours years ago. She went on to say she did not push the issue or report Mr Saville because she feared no one would listen.
If the vile accusations aimed at Saville are true, his actions were the despicable atrocities of a disgusting, manipulative predator who abused his position and abused the trust that the people of this country had bestowed upon him.
 I have long been of the opinion that paedophiles are evil, sick nasty bullying animals, but also that they are ill and possibly cannot help themselves when faced with temptation. What some of them manage to do is avoid that temptation and not put themselves in a position where they will be near vulnerable children.
What Jimmy Saville managed to do, is build his life around them and build a reputation so untouchable that he could use his trust to violate the innocent children whom he was supposed to be serving.
What Saville is accused of may never be proven as the accused is no longer able to defend himself.
If the likes of Janet Street Porter and her colleagues had showed some courage, perhaps Sir Jimmy could have been held to account.

It is morally obscene that these people chose to say nothing while Savile was alive in order to further or maintain  their own careers. They had a morale and professional obligation as journalists and as human beings to step in and protect the children that Savile and his seedy circle of depraved friends including twice convicted paedophile Gary Glitter, preyed upon. It is appalling to think that in order to survive in the industry these people simply ignored the shocking and outrageous behaviour of one of TVs best kept dirty secret.
The victims were not only betrayed by the people who assaulted and raped them, but they were betrayed and sacrificed by the people who turned a blind eye. Guilt should not simply lay at the door of Gary Glitter and the dead fund raiser. Those that looked the other way or tolerated the shocking behaviour should feel deeply ashamed for their part in the years of abuse.
Glitter faces arrest again for his connections to the allegations but who else will face charges? Sir Jimmy is in danger of posthumously losing his knighthood. If the stories are true then  he deserved to lose his freedom and his dignity, as he took away the dignity of the children he took advantage of.
The BBC should be investigated thoroughly, and if they are found to have covered up the criminal actions of its employees, they should be fined massively and who ever made the decision to cover up the actions should face prosecution.
Several well known female presenters have claimed they were molested by other well known celebrities, some of whom may still be in positions of respect, trust and privilege. This is simply unacceptable and the people involved need to be rooted out and named and shamed and prosecuted. It is not sufficient to suggest that there was a culture back then that was it OK to do those things. It was not.