UK police investigate allegations against best-selling children's author Walliams

Detailed summary

LONDON, Nov 13 - British police said on Friday they had opened an investigation into allegations against British comedian and best-selling children's author David Walliams after…

LONDON, Nov 13 - British police said on Friday they had opened an investigation into allegations against British comedian and best-selling children's author David Walliams after two media organisations published accusations of sexual misconduct about him.

The Guardian and ITV News on Tuesday reported that multiple women had accused Walliams, 55, formerly a judge on music mogul Simon Cowell's "Britain's Got Talent" television show, of abusing his position to prey on young women.

Walliams, who has sold more than 60 million books, has denied the allegations, and had sought to block publication of the accusations, saying he would again attempt suicide if they were made public. However, an injunction preventing publication was lifted on Tuesday.

London police said in a statement that they had received a number of allegations of non-recent serious sexual offences involving a man now in his 50s. They said that these were separate from those reported by ITN — the broadcaster that produces ITV News — and the Guardian.

Walliams' lawyer did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The police statement said detectives were also looking at the Guardian and ITV material to see whether it included any evidence of offences. It did not name Walliams, as is customary.

"We would encourage anyone who has been the victim of a sexual offence to come forward and speak to us, no matter when it happened," said Detective Superintendent Mike Cagney, who is leading the investigation.

In its report, the Guardian said Walliams had written a personal letter to the investigating journalists, denying abusing his position of power.

"I realise that at times I behaved thoughtlessly towards other people I had casual sexual relationships with," he wrote. "And whilst a power imbalance is inevitable when one party is famous, abusing that power is something else entirely and it is something I never did."

Opening of the article, excerpted from The Straits Times. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.