Jimmy Savile abused children at 14 hospitals across six decades, say police

Jimmy Savile abused children across six decades at 14 hospitals including Great Ormond Street and a children's hospice, according to a police report. He also conducted 14 alleged assaults at schools.

Commander Peter Spindler of the Metropolitan police said Savile used his fame and celebrity status to "hide in plain sight", adding that he had "groomed the nation".

The report into his activities reveals his offending spans from 1955 to 2009. Most of his victims were children – 73% – and he committed most of the offences when he was between 40 and 50 years old.

"The report paints a stark picture emphasising the tragic consequences of when vulnerability and power collide. His offending footprint was vast, predatory and opportunistic."

Some of the hospitals where the TV and radio presenter abused children are: Leeds general infirmary, Great Ormond Street, Exeter hospital, Saxondale mental health hospital in Nottinghamshire and Wheatfield hospice in Leeds, a Sue Ryder hospice for dying children.

According to the report, called Giving Victims a Voice, 450 victims have come forward to allege incidents, and Savile committed 214 criminal offences in 28 areas of England and Wales.

Savile offended while working at the BBC between 1965 and 2006 and at the final recording of Top of the Pops. Most of the victims were aged between 13 and 16.

Savile raped 34 people, including 28 children. He used every opportunity and every institution to which he had access because of his fame to target young people.

The report reveals Savile abused children at the BBC between 1959 and 2006 – his last offence took place at Top of the Pops in 2006 when he sexually assaulted a teenage girl on the show.

He also assaulted children and young girls 33 times in TV and radio studios and there were 14 assaults in schools. Savile was invited into the schools – which have not been named – by children who wanted to appear on Jim'll Fix It, police said.

The youngest of Savile's victims was an eight-year-old boy who he touched sexually, and his last victim was a 46-year-old woman who was assaulted in 2009.

Detective Superintendent David Gray, who led the inquiry, said: "He has spent every minute of every working day thinking about this. Whenever an opportunity came along he took it. He picked on vulnerable victims and he was clever enough to choose people who he knew would not speak out."

Gray said he expected the number of crimes recorded to rise above 214.