Savile 'predatory sex offender', victims as young as eight

LONDON (AFP) - British police said on Friday that late BBC star presenter Jimmy Savile was a predatory sex offender whose victims were as young as eight and who preyed on children and adults in hospitals and even a hospice.

A report by police and child protection authorities found that the presenter, who was one of the biggest TV stars in Britain in the 1970s and 1980s, used his celebrity status to "hide in plain sight".

Prosecutors said Savile, who died in 2011 at the age of 84, could have been prosecuted if police had taken the victims more seriously.

The alleged attacks stretched for more than 50 years from 1955 to 2009 and were "mainly opportunistic sexual assaults - many in situations manipulated by Savile" - but in some cases, he groomed his victims, the report said.