British police confirmed Monday they are looking into "a number of allegations of sexual offenses" against controversial comedian Russell Brand both in London and in the rest of the country.
In an announcement, London’s Metropolitan Police said it began the probe after a joint investigation from The Times of London, The Sunday Times and Channel 4 Dispatches, in which four women accused Brand of sexual assault or rape. A fifth woman also accused him of flashing his genitals at her.
"Following an investigation by Channel 4’s Dispatches and The Sunday Times, the Met has received a number of allegations of sexual offenses in London," the Metropolitan Police said. "We have also received a number of allegations of sexual offenses committed elsewhere in the country and will investigate these."
The allegations "are all non-recent," the statement said.
The Metropolitan Police did not divulge any new details about the allegations.
Before the announcement, the Metropolitan Police said it had received a report from one woman "of a sexual assault which was alleged to have taken place in Soho in central London in 2003."
Brand, 48, has rejected all the claims, saying in a video statement that his relationships were “always consensual.”
The investigation is being led by detectives from the Met's Central Specialist Crime Command, which is led by Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy.
“We continue to encourage anyone who believes they may have been a victim of a sexual offence, no matter how long ago it was, to contact us," Furphy said in the Met statement. “We understand it can feel like a difficult step to take and I want to reassure that we have a team of specialist officers available to advise and support.”
Senior British politicians have been urging police to investigate the allegations, while the U.K. entertainment industry has faced questions about whether Brand’s bad behavior went unchallenged because of his fame.
The accusers, who were not identified by name in the joint media investigation, include one who said she was sexually assaulted during a relationship with him when she was 16. Another woman says Brand raped her in Los Angeles in 2012.
