Baroness Louise Casey, who led an audit into grooming gangs, has spoken out against allegations of sexual misconduct and grooming made against David Walliams, describing them as "appalling". She said she was glad an injunction sought by the author and TV personality to prevent reporting of the allegations had been lifted.
Walliams, 55, was named this week as part of an investigation by journalists involving accusations of grooming teenage girls as young as 15 and abusing his position to pursue women. He has denied any wrongdoing.
Casey's Reaction to Allegations
Speaking to Radio 4's Today Programme, Baroness Casey said: "We don't prioritise and we don't think about how we protect young people. And that's partly about young people being young adults. I mean, I realise all of that gets more complicated as they get older, but come on."
She also noted that the allegations against Walliams came just days after former comedian Russell Brand's conviction for rape and sexual assault, for which he has been jailed for 10-and-a-half years.
"The people abusing power, day in, day out, to groom and then rape and sexually assault largely girls and young children, is frankly appalling," she said. "I think that there are people throughout the country that use things like injunctions not to face the law, and we have to make sure those things are changed. So I'm glad that that's happened, and I'm extremely pleased that Russell Brand is inside for 10 years."
Details of the Allegations
One woman described her alleged encounter with Walliams, when she was 15, as a "sexual assault", while multiple women accused the best-selling author and former Britain's Got Talent judge of "grooming" them as teenagers.
In a letter understood to have been sent months ago by Walliams to journalists working on the investigations, he denied being a "sexual predator". The TV personality said while he "behaved thoughtlessly" at times and regretted not taking people's feelings "properly into account", he had not broken the law.
The letter said: "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."
Injunction and Police Contact
Walliams sought the court injunction over concerns he would take his own life, after two previous suicide attempts. Judge Mr Justice Nicklin refused the bid for an injunction, ruling it would be an "exceptionally serious interference" with freedom of expression.
The Metropolitan Police confirmed it had contacted the Guardian and ITV News to "ensure that any potential victims" are "made aware of how they could report any criminal allegations to police", after the sexual misconduct claims were made.
