Savile Inquiry Finds 'Truly Awful' Abuse at Medical Units

London: The British health authorities said Thursday that inquiries into sexual abuse by the disgraced television host Jimmy Savile at state-funded medical facilities had revealed "truly awful" episodes involving patients ages 5 to 75.

The disclosures were the latest addition to a catalog of malfeasance that has shocked Britons and shaken the British Broadcasting Corp., Savile's onetime employer.

The investigation at National Health Service institutions followed police investigations into allegations of abuse at several locations, including Leeds General Infirmary in his hometown and a high-security psychiatric unit visited by Savile under the guise of charitable work.

The entertainer gained access to every corner of the hospital in Leeds by working on its radio service and volunteering as a porter as part of his fundraising efforts, the investigation found.

The inquiry concluded that the first case of abuse at the Leeds hospital occurred in 1962 and the most recent in 2009, when Savile was 82. While some victims complained to the staff, either directly or through their parents, their allegations were not passed on to those in higher authority.

"For some, although the abuse took place decades ago, their experience endures as a painful and upsetting memory that still has an effect on them today," said Sue Proctor, who headed the inquiry. She called Savile's professed interest in the dead "pretty unwholesome," quoting an unidentified student nurse as saying the entertainer had boasted of performing acts of a sexual nature on corpses.

The cigar-chomping Savile, who died in 2011 at age 84, was widely seen for decades as a kind of national treasure for his zany fashion sense, quirky mannerisms and supposed philanthropy. Only after he died did long-rumored misbehavior come to light in hundreds of reports of abuse of women, girls and boys. The disclosure of his activities also provoked police investigations that led to trials of several aging entertainers accused of sexual offenses.

A joint statement by National Health Service executives said there had been "truly awful" episodes dating to 1960, when Savile began volunteering at the Leeds hospital in northeastern England.

Research by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children found that he abused at least 500 victims, the youngest of them 2 years old.

The BBC, which is funded by compulsory license fees paid by viewers, conducted its own inquiries into its relationship with Savile. One of them raised the question of why the broadcaster canceled a contentious report into accusations of sexual abuse against Savile in December 2011, two months after he died.

At the time, the BBC's director general was Mark Thompson, who joined The New York Times Co. as president and chief executive in 2012.

In December 2012, an inquiry by Nick Pollard, a veteran British broadcast executive, blamed lax leadership and "rigid management chains" that left the BBC "completely incapable" of dealing with the Savile affair.

But Pollard's 200-page report did not challenge Thompson's assertions that he had no role in canceling the BBC's Savile report and was unaware of the sexual abuse accusations until he left the BBC in September 2012. Neither did the report fault Thompson for missing opportunities to learn the details of the allegations against Savile.