Britain’s BBC will facequestions from the government on Sunday about its handling of anallegation that one of its star presenters paid a teenagerthousands of pounds to pose for sexually explicit photosbeginning when they were 17 years old.

A government statement said that Culture Secretary LucyFrazer would hold urgent talks with the broadcaster’s directorgeneral, Tim Davie, later on Sunday about the allegations, whichthe statement described as “deeply concerning”.

The Sun newspaper, which first reported the allegations,cited the young person’s mother as saying the unnamed malepresenter had paid the teenager more than 35,000 pounds($45,000) over three years for the images.

The mother told the newspaper that the teenager had used thecash to fund a crack cocaine habit.

The family complained to the broadcaster on May 19, but thepresenter was not immediately taken off air, according to theSun, which said the family had not requested payment for theirstory.

The BBC, which is funded by a licence fee paid by every TVwatching household, said in a statement: “We treat anyallegations very seriously and we have processes in place toproactively deal with them.”

The broadcaster said its processes included “activelyattempting to speak to those who have contacted us in order toseek further detail and understanding of the situation”.

“If we get no reply to our attempts or receive no furthercontact that can limit our ability to progress things but itdoes not mean our enquiries stop.

“If, at any point, new information comes to light or isprovided – including via newspapers – this will be acted uponappropriately, in line with internal processes,” it said.