Young women were sexually assaulted by veteran British presenter Dave Lee Travis live on television and in his radio studio, prosecutors told his trial on Tuesday, Agence France-Presse reported.
Known to be one of the biggest names in British broadcasting during the 1970s and 1980s, the 68-year-old former BBC star denied the charges of assaulting 11 women, one of whom was underage at the time of the alleged crime.
According to AFP, while introducing a song by The Smurfs on the TV show "Top of the Pops" in 1978, Travis was allegedly shown to be putting his hand up a young woman's skirt. The jury at London's Southwark Crown Court was shown the footage.
Travis, who appeared in court under his real name David Patrick Griffin, was an "opportunist" who had targeted "young women who were very vulnerable," Prosecutor Miranda Moore said.
Having been a presenter at BBC Radio 1 for 25 years, the youngest of his alleged victims said she was 15 when he attacked her - below the age of sexual consent in Britain, which is 16, AFP reported.
At a concert by the pop group Showaddywaddy in 1978, Travis groped her breasts and pinned her to her seat in his trailer, she said.
"In her words, she thought he was going to rape her," Moore told the jury.
Another alleged victim was forced to run out of a studio after Travis pressed his groin against her and put his hand into her underwear, Moore said.
"She told him to stop and he grabbed her and put the red light on," Moore said - signaling the studio was broadcasting live and nobody should enter, AFP reported.
According to AFP, Travis is accused of 13 counts of indecent assault between 1976 and 2003, and one count of sexual assault in 2008.
Arrested under Operation Yewtree, the police operation set up in the wake of revelations that late BBC star Jimmy Savile was a prolific sex offender, the charges against Travis are not connected to his former colleague.
