Coronation Street director ‘arrested on suspicion of trying to groom 13yo girl online’

Police arrested the 65-year-old and held him at his home in East Keswick in West Yorkshire, reports state.

It is claimed that Dowd was held on suspicion of enticing a child into sexual activity after allegedly talking to a 13-year-old girl online who was actually an undercover police officer.

Down, who has also worked on Emmerdale, Casualty and Heartbeat, has directed over 160 episodes of Coronation Street since 1994, according to IMDB.

He is credited with directing both of last night’s episodes.

It is understood that Dowd, who was a freelance director for the show and not a member of the Coronation Street staff, has had all further filming commitments terminated by ITV.

The West Yorkshire Police confirmed that a man had been arrested in East Keswick last week, telling Express.co.uk: “A man was arrested on Friday last week on suspicion of an internet grooming offence.

“He has been released under investigation and enquiries are ongoing,” the statement said.

ITV told Express.co.uk that they could not comment while the investigation was ongoing, saying: “As a police investigation is underway, we are not in a position to comment.”

An unknown ITV insider told the publication that they were shocked to find the show caught up in controversy again, just two months after actor Bruno Langley admitted to sexually assaulting two women and was sacked from the programme.

“No one can believe the show has found itself mired in controversy yet again,” the source said.

“Tim is very much innocent until proven guilty, but the fact of his arrest means we are attracting headlines for all the wrong reasons.”

Another praised Dowd as a “respected” member of the team, saying: “He’s so respected, one of those guys the cast can go up to for advice without any qualms.

“The crew who work with him have maximum regard for his abilities and will find these allegations very difficult to comprehend.”

The news comes just months after Langley, 34, pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting two women on a night out in Manchester in October.

Upon his appearance at Manchester Magistrate’s Court in November, the court heart that he followed the first victim upstairs after she had gone to collect her coat and grabbed her crotch.

He then acted the same way with the second victim, who said he had grabbed her “forcefully”.

Langley was sentenced to a 12-month community order, which includes a curfew and an electronic tag.

His character, Todd Grimshaw, was written out of Coronation Street.