Cops: Savile Among Biggest Sex Predators in UK History

When allegations of sex abuse surfaced against the once-beloved British entertainer Jimmy Savile, police initially thought there were 25 to 50 victims, reports AP. A three-month police investigation out today shows that Savile, who died in 2011 at age 84, was a much bigger monster than that, reports the Guardian. Authorities say he is among the biggest sexual predators in British history, adds the BBC.

• Police say 450 victims, most of them children at the time of the abuse, have come forward.
• Savile committed at least 214 offenses, including 34 rapes, over some 50 years. They occurred from 1955 to 2009, but most took place when Savile was in his 40s. The number is expected to rise.
• Locations of the crimes included 14 hospitals, a cancer hospice, schools, and a facility for troubled girls. Police say Savile traded on his fame and sought the most vulnerable victims.
• The youngest was an 8-year-old boy, but most were between 13 and 16.

• "He could do anything he wanted," said Detective Supt. David Gray, who led the police investigation. "He could turn up at a school and say, 'Is anyone interested in meeting me?'"
• Several victims went to police in 2003, 2007, and 2008, but police believed Savile's explanations that they were false allegations and the price he paid for being a celebrity.

(More Jimmy Savile stories.)