London’s Metropolitan Police said on Friday it has opened an investigation into allegations of non-recent serious sexual offences involving a man in his 50s. The force did not name David Walliams, in line with its usual practice for people who have not been charged, but said the allegations followed a joint investigation by ITV News and the Guardian into the comedian and children’s author.
Police said the complaints they received in recent days are separate from the allegations reported by the two outlets. Detectives are also reviewing that reporting to establish whether it contains evidence of further offences, the force said.
The Guardian and ITV News published their investigation on Tuesday, after a High Court judge rejected Walliams’s attempt to prevent him from being named. The outlets said they spoke to more than 100 people over three years. Multiple women accused Walliams, 55, of grooming them as teenagers and pursuing young women for sex. One woman said he sexually assaulted her at his London home when she was 15, after they met on Myspace in 2007.
Walliams has denied all the allegations, saying he has broken no laws and is not a sexual predator. Detective Superintendent Mike Cagney, who is leading the investigation, urged anyone who has been the victim of a sexual offence to come forward, no matter when it happened.
The reports were published a day after actor-comedian Russell Brand was sentenced to ten and a half years in prison for rape and sexual assault, according to the Associated Press.
Source: Reuters
