Outrage as smirking Jimmy Savile photo appears on Google when internet users search ‘UK age of consent’
INTERNET users Googling Britain's age of consent for sex are being confronted with a smirking picture of Jimmy Savile.
The monstrous paedophile appears alongside the answer for the question, smoking a cigar and grinning.
Social media users have picked up on the bizarre error, with one saying: "You have to be kidding."
Savile died in 2011, and as he was known widely for his charity work and flamboyant personality, fans mourned the loss.
However the truth of his horrific and predatory behaviour later emerged - and it is thought he had more than 1,000 victims he sexually assaulted over six decades, using his status and influence to escape suspicion.
The scale of his deception and the dreadful impact his actions had on his many young and vulnerable victims has led Savile to become one of the most notorious paedophiles in Britain.
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This makes it all the more alarming that his image should appear when internet users Google what the UK age of consent is.
The Sun Online flagged the issue with Google, who have since stopped the image from appearing during the search.
It is understood that the image appeared because Google's Featured Snippets feature - an algorithmic match to a user's search query - sources accompanying images from third-party sites.
In this case it was sourced from a BBC News story which used the image.
A Google spokeswoman said: "Featured Snippets are generated automatically based on content from across the web, and are intended as a way to help you find the information you need more quickly.
"We do our best to identify high-quality webpages for Featured Snippets and we’re always working to improve."
A MONSTER UNSMASKED: How Jimmy Savile's crimes finally emerged
Savile was exposed as a paedophile in 2012 and the following year a joint Scotland Yard and NSPCC report branded him one of the UK’s most prolific known sexual predators.
It's estimated he sexually assaulted hundreds of women and children in a campaign of abuse lasting more than 50 years.
Operation Yewtree was launched after a flood of allegations in the wake of an ITV documentary screened in October 2012 exposed the late DJ as a paedophile.
It was then extended to include a host of other showbiz personalities suspected of child abuse.
Victims have told how Top of the Pops host Savile raped or molested them in his BBC dressing room.
Others said they were abused when the once-revered entertainer visited schools, children’s homes and hospitals under the cover of his prolific charity work.
During Operation Yewtree, cops discovered monster Jimmy Savile had abused a patient at High Royds Hospital in West Yorkshire.
The assault took place during a fancy dress for its 100th anniversary celebrations, where the sicko also allegedly "groped staff's breasts" and "put his hand up their skirts".
Victims didn't complain about the "dirty old man" because it was an "occupational hazard of being a woman" at the time, according to a report.
Spooky images show the inside of the abandoned unit for disturbed youngsters which closed in 2003.
A compensation scheme was set up for victims, which drew on the money he had in his estate before he died, and meant those named in his will received none of the bequeathed amounts.
