A former Radio 1 DJ branded himself an ‘easy target’ as he protested his innocence over allegations of sexual offences when he spoke to reporters outside his home near Leighton Buzzard.
Dave Lee Travis, from Mentmore, has “categorically denied” allegations published in the national press about him following the Savile revelations after he was bailed following his arrest at his home on Friday at 7.45am.
The former BBC and Chiltern Radio DJ later returned to his house at around 9.15pm on Friday evening after he was bailed to return on a date in early January.
Mr Travis, whose Magic AM radio show has been taken off air, said his arrest was nothing to do with child abuse.
He said: “This is nothing to do with kids, all right? That’s the first thing. Because that to me is the most important thing in the world and I do not wish to have my name sullied around something that bloody evil, to be honest.
“The second thing I want is to say, yes, there’s a complete denial there, but there’s nothing else I can tell you because otherwise I might be stepping on the police’s feet and I don’t want to do that because it might affect their investigations.”
Following Mr Travis’ arrest, the BBC postponed the transmission of an edition of Top of the Pops from 1977 hosted by Mr Travis that was due to be shown on BBC4 on Thursday.
The 67-year-old said: “It’s just too easy to make allegations. I’m an easy target. I am and always have been completely abhorred by child molestation. Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty?
“I think that sometimes, you know, us guys who are a bit older, who are, shall we say, tactile – which is not a terrible thing to be – in the old days you put your arm around somebody and gave them a little kiss or a cuddle. But nowadays, you know, you’d have to stop and think ‘is this an assault?’”
At the time of Mr Travis’ arrest, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said a man was arrested as part of the ‘Others’ strand of the Met’s investigation, meaning it is unrelated to the allegations against Savile.