Met Police opens sexual offence inquiry into David Walliams

The Metropolitan Police has opened an investigation into allegations of serious sexual offences after reports accused the comedian and children's author David Walliams of grooming and sexually abusing girls and young women.

The force said on Friday it had received a number of allegations of non-recent serious sexual offences involving a man now in his 50s. Detective Superintendent Mike Cagney urged anyone affected to come forward. The Met said the new allegations are separate from those published this week by ITV News and The Guardian.

Those reports, published on Tuesday, quoted several women accusing Walliams of sexual misconduct, with allegations dating back to 2003. One woman said he sexually assaulted her at his London home when she was 15; others accused him of grooming them as teenagers. The reports also included allegations that he harassed young female colleagues. The two outlets said they spoke to more than 100 people during a three-year investigation.

They appeared a day after the comedian Russell Brand was sentenced to more than 10 years in jail for rape and sexual assault.

Walliams denied the allegations in a letter to ITV and The Guardian. "I am not a sexual predator … I have not broken the law," he wrote, adding that "abusing that power is something else entirely".

The reports were published after he lost a High Court bid to block the outlets from naming him. Judge Matthew Nicklin said an injunction would be "an exceptionally serious interference" with the media's rights.

The BBC said it had taken down some shows involving Walliams, including all episodes of Little Britain. His literary agency, Independent Talent Group, said it was "no longer representing him in any capacity". HarperCollins, his publisher, dropped him last year after accusations that he harassed female staff, which he also denied.

Walliams rose to fame with the sketch shows Little Britain and Come Fly With Me and was a judge on Britain's Got Talent. His children's books have reportedly sold more than 50 million copies, including Mr Stink and Gangsta Granny.