An upcoming Scotland Yard report has found that now-infamous BBC presenter Jimmy Savile abused patients at 13 English hospitals — including one hospice, wrote the Guardian on Monday.
The Independent wrote that Savile appears to have attacked both patients and staff at a hospice he regularly visited, operating under the guise of carrying out charity work.
Savile was apparently allowed to wander wards freely in some institutions, and was even given hospital keys.
The formerly beloved presenter and children's television host, who died in October of 2011, has been accused of a shocking number of sexual assaults since his death — a scandal prompted by an October ITV documentary that took a hard look into Savile's secret life, wrote the Guardian.
Read more from GlobalPost: My life with Jimmy Savile
According to the Guardian, Scotland Yard has thus far reported 31 allegations of rape against Savile, and 589 informants on the case.
The BBC has been accused of taking a complicit role in the scandal, allegedly looking the other way as Savile continued to sexually abuse both children and adults, writes NPR.
The news organization has launched a sweeping investigation into the allegations as a response to the scandal, wrote the Independent in November. Twenty BBC staff members have been investigated in conjunction with the case so far.
The former star of children's hit "Jim'll Fix It," Savile's status as a cultural icon accorded him unusual access to children and the admiration and trust of much of England, wrote GlobalPost correspondent Barry Neild in November.
Read more from GlobalPost: Jimmy Savile to be formally investigated by Scotland Yard
"The rumors, innuendoes and jokes show that we suspected all along, but had invested too much emotion in our cherished uncle Jimmy to do anything more than laugh it off. That makes the truth so much harder to bear," wrote Neild.
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