British comedian and children’s author David Walliams is being investigated by London police over a series of alleged sexual offences. The investigation follows reports by leading British media houses stating that he used his celebrity status to groom teenage girls and young women.The Metropolitan Police said on Friday that it had received several allegations of non-recent sexual offences in recent days. The force stressed that the complaints under investigation are separate from those detailed in a joint investigation by ITV News and The Guardian, but said officers would examine the media reports to establish whether they contained evidence of further offences.The allegations reported by the two outlets include claims that Walliams sexually assaulted a woman at his London home when she was 15 and groomed other girls while they were teenagers. The three-year investigation involved speaking to more than 100 people, the outlets said.Walliams, 55, has denied the allegations, insisting he had not broken the law and was not a sexual predator. In a written response to ITV News and The Guardian, he said he was “devastated” that women he had met 10 to 20 years ago had expressed hurt or anger towards him.“Whilst a power imbalance is inevitable when one party is famous, abusing that power is something else entirely and it is something that I never did,” he said.Detective Superintendent Mike Cagney, who is leading the investigation, urged anyone who had experienced a sexual offence to contact police, regardless of when it occurred. He said specialist officers were available to support complainants.The investigation follows Walliams’ unsuccessful attempt to obtain a court injunction preventing The Guardian and ITV News from publishing their findings. His lawyers argued that publication could lead him to take his own life, citing two previous suicide attempts. A medical expert appointed jointly by both sides found that publication posed a serious risk to his mental health.However, High Court judge Mr Justice Nicklin rejected the injunction, ruling that blocking the reports would be an “exceptionally serious interference” with the media’s freedom of expression. The court was not deciding whether the allegations against Walliams were true, but whether the reporting could be legally prevented.The controversy has already had consequences for the entertainer’s career. Publisher HarperCollins dropped him last year following allegations of inappropriate behaviour, while his literary agency also severed ties with him. The BBC has begun removing some of his programmes, including Little Britain, from iPlayer, and his Labour Party membership has been suspended.Walliams, best known for co-creating and starring in the comedy series Little Britain, is also one of Britain’s best-selling children’s authors.