BBC recently promised to ‘learn from past mistakes’ (Picture: Getty Images)

The BBC has been accused of hiring a convicted sex offender to front a youth talent show.

Speaking in the Commons, Democratic Union Party minister Ian Paisley questioned the logic of appointing the unnamed person for such a role.

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The BBC had only recently promised to ‘learn from the mistakes of the past’, he added.

Addressing Culture Secretary John Whittingdale, Paisley said: ‘The BBC promised us that they were going to learn from the mistakes of the past.


‘Have you had any opportunity to assess or question the logic of those BBC bosses who have decided to appoint a recently released from jail sex offender to front a prime-time youth talent show on the BBC?



‘What were they thinking in that appointment?’

Ian Paisley made the claims in the Commons (Picture: Getty Images)

Whittingdale replied that he heard what he was saying, but that it was ‘a matter of editorial judgement for the BBC’.

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‘Obviously the BBC has a duty to set an example and behave responsibly,’ he added, ‘and I would simply say that I’m sure that the senior editorial management of the BBC will have heard what you have said, and I’d encourage you – if you have concerns – to express them directly to the BBC.’

When contacted by Metro.co.uk, the BBC declined to comment.