'Urgent Invite': Securing a data set on allegations of sexual abuse made against the former disc jockey, Jimmy Savile

In 2012, a year after his death, allegations of historical sex abuse by the former disc jockey, Jimmy Savile, began to emerge following an ITV 'Exposure' programme. The case generated massive public interest; initial allegations led to hundreds of others. It caused public outrage; Savile's grave was desecrated, his holiday cottage vandalised. The reverberations of the case have engulfed major institutions in controversy leading, for example, to the resignation of the BBC's Director General and to two reports (Pollard, 2012 and Smith, ongoing) into the organisation's handling of the affair. It has also led to investigations of sex crimes by other celebrity figures from the 1960s and 70s and more currently. Previous allegations of abuse in North Wales children's homes re-surfaced, implicating (wrongly) the Tory peer Lord McAlpine in child abuse.
The scale of the allegations against Savile led the Metropolitan Police in the Yewtree Report (2013) (in conjunction with the Crown Prosecution Service and the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to children) to identify those making allegations against Savile as victims and, by implication, Savile as a perpetrator of abuse, a 'predatory paedophile'. Alison Levitt QC, Principal Advisor to the Director of Public Prosecution, in her report regarding Savile, notes that the term 'complainant' is inappropriate and substitutes the term 'victim' throughout the report. This is a new and arguably troubling development inasmuch as Savile was never tried or convicted through due process of law. There is a wider concern that the sexual mores of a particular time period are being examined and judged, perhaps, against standards of a different age.
While the general mood against Savile is one of revulsion, voices are beginning to be raised questioning the veracity of some of the allegations against him. Initial allegations emanate from former residents of Duncroft School, a residential school for 'wayward but intelligent girls', which operated in the South of England over the course of the 1960s and 70s and into the 80s. One former resident of Duncroft went on to become a lawyer, now lives in France and blogs under the name of Anna Raccoon. She disputes the picture of Duncroft painted by other former residents and the extent and nature of Jimmy Savile's alleged abuse there. Dozens of other former residents have contacted her to question aspects of the story that has found its way into the public domain. Members of Jimmy Savile's family have similarly disputed claims made against him by a relative.
Picking up on Mark Smith's interest in moral panics, Anna Raccoon contacted him to reveal that she was suffering from terminal cancer and would like to ensure that the information she holds on the Savile case is not lost but is subjected to proper academic scrutiny. This research proposal is to collate the 'urgent' electronic data she holds but also to interview key informants on the Savile case who are known to 'Anna'. The subject of our proposed research takes us onto contested ground: proponents of the approach that has been taken to investigate the 'Savile affair' argue that victims are at long last being afforded justice and the possibility of 'closure' and that to raise questions of the process might put off others from coming forward; critics see it as a witch-hunt or as Furedi (2013) claims, the latest episode in a wider 'moral crusade' against child abuse. Our proposal raises, among others, questions of human rights and civil liberties, the rule of law, memory, identity and perceptions of trust in social relationships. As such it will be of interest to a range of academic disciplines and publics. It should be of particular relevance to the workings of the criminal justice system in the UK. It is also of international significance as jurisdictions across the world struggle with how best to address vexed questions of historical child abuse.

Who will benefit from this research?
The research proposed has potential impact across a swathe of civil society including:
1. Investigators of alleged historical abuse, e.g. Forensic and clinical psychologists; ACPO Association of Chief Police Officers; Crown Prosecution Service (CPS); Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRS)
2. Organisations which support victims of abuse e.g. Victim Support; The Survivors Trust (TST); National Association for People Abused in Childhood (NAPAC)
3. Those supporting people accused and alleging innocence e.g. The Innocence Network UK (INUK); Falsely Accused Careers, Teachers and other professionals (FACT); Falsely Accused of Sexual Offences (FASO);
4. Defence solicitors and barristers specialising in charges of child/sex abuse;
5. Professional organisations e.g. NASUWT - the largest teachers' union; Scottish Residential Child Care Workers Association (SRCCWA);
6. Charities and institutions affected by Savile's legacy. e.g. The Jimmy Savile Stoke Mandeville Hospital Trust; The (Leeds-based) Jimmy Savile Charitable Trust; The BBC.
7. Newspaper and broadcast media organisations e.g students on journalism courses
8. Policy makers

How will they benefit from this research?
We would hope to distinguish between the allegations about Savile at Duncroft which can be supported and those which can't be supported or which are contradicted. With lessons to learn from each type, the findings will have relevance to those investigating allegations, to supporting victims of abuse, and to recognising false allegations. They may indicate circumstances in which there is a greater risk of abuse and also motivations which might prompt inaccurate claims. Whether the findings conform or contradict the picture of Savile as (a) a predatory paedophile, (b) involved in organised sexual exploitation of girls in care, and (c) in satanic abuse, will be an important basis for all the above mentioned organisations to proceed in making appropriate judgements on a case-by-case basis and in the implications drawn about similar claims of institutional historical abuse. The findings should assist charities and institutions affected by Savile's legacy to gain perspective on what took place and move forward based on a more substantiated appraisal.

It is our hope that our research might increase the effectiveness of public services and policy, especially in the workings of the legal system but also in respect of how best to address the needs of those who allege historical abuse. While the focus of this research is a particular case in the UK, jurisdictions across the world are struggling with how to best deal with allegations of historical abuse, so the research has potential international significance. The currency and the profile of this case is likely to ensure that the research will be picked up and used as soon as it becomes public.

A subsidiary impact of this research may be in developing skills among the research team in applying insights and methods relating to the use of social media in social scientific research.