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David Blaine: magician being investigated over sex assault claims

New York police confirm active inquiry under way by special victims division

Magician David Blaine is due to play a Dublin show in June. Photograph: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

Tue Apr 2 2019 - 09:01

New York Police Department is investigating sexual assault allegations against magician David Blaine.

Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea told reporters Blaine is under investigation and an active inquiry is under way by the department’s special victims division but declined to discuss any details, including whether police had sought to interview him.

He was responding to a report by the Daily Beast website that the NYPD had taken statements from two women accusing Blaine of sexual assault.

Citing unnamed sources, the report said one of the alleged victims claims she was attacked by Blaine in his Manhattan apartment in 1998.

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The Daily Beast had previously reported that a former model alleged Blaine raped her in London in 2004, an allegation he denied.

Scotland Yard detectives later declined to take further action after investigating her claim, the website said.

Blaine (45), who is due to play Dublin’s 3Arena on June 8th, is known for stunts such as being buried underground for seven days without food or water in New York in 1999. He also stayed in a plexiglass case suspended nine metres (30ft) above the Thames River in London for more than 40 days in 2003.

The NYPD said it “takes sexual assault and rape cases extremely seriously, and urges anyone who has been a victim to file a report so we can perform a comprehensive investigation, and offer support and services to survivors”. – AP

David Blaine