The lawyer backing a teenager at the centre of claims a BBC presenter paid for explicit pictures from them says the allegations are false.
At the weekend, the BBC presenter was suspended following allegations he spent $35,000 buying explicit images from the teen, who was allegedly 17 years old when they started talking online.
The young person has issued a statement in which they claim the key allegations are "rubbish".
According to The Guardian, the young person's mother made the allegations in The Sun newspaper, which published her claim that payments from the BBC presenter helped fund her child's crack cocaine habit.
However, on Monday evening, the young person's lawyer issued a statement saying the mother and The Sun weren't telling the truth.
"For the avoidance of doubt, nothing inappropriate or unlawful has taken place between our client and the BBC personality," the lawyer said.
"The allegations reported in The Sun newspaper are rubbish".
Speaking to the BBC, the lawyer said they had provided a similar denial to The Sun before the publication of the original story, telling the tabloid there was "no truth" in the initial article they were planning to run.
According to The Guardian, The Sun proceeded to publish the article without including any denial from the teenager.
However, a spokesperson for The Sun said it had "reported a story about two very concerned parents who made a complaint to the BBC about the behaviour of a presenter and the welfare of their child".
"We have seen evidence that supports their concerns," the spokesperson told The Guardian.
The young person's parents reportedly said they "stand by" the claims.
"We did this to help, and the presenter has got into their head," the parents said.
"It is sad but we stand by our account and we hope they get the help they need."
If the young person sent any explicit pictures when they were aged 17 then this could count as child sexual abuse.
However, if the explicit photos were sent only after the young person turned 18 then it's possible that no law was broken.
Police said investigations are ongoing to determine whether a crime has been committed.
