David Blaine: magician accused of sexual assault

US police are investigating magician and illusionist David Blaine over claims of sexual assault, the authorities have confirmed.

New York Police Department (NYPD) Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea told reporters at an unrelated news conference that Blaine is under “active” investigation, reports The Guardian.

The Brooklyn-born magician, who turns 46 this week, has been accused of sexual assault by two different women, in two separate alleged incidents.

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A senior NYPD official with knowledge of the probe told news website The Daily Beast that one of the women’s claims “may fall outside the statute of limitations”, as she alleges that she was “sexually assaulted by Blaine inside his Manhattan apartment in 1998”.

Under New York state law, all but the most serious sexual crimes can only be prosecuted within five years of their alleged occurance.

The details of the other allegation have not been disclosed. Blaine has not yet been interviewed over the allegations, according to reports.

In a statement, 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”.

This is not the first time that Blaine has been accused of sexual assault. In 2017, the magician was investigated by Scotland Yard after former model Natasha Prince accused him of raping her following a party in London in 2004 - an allegation Blaine “vehemently denied”, HuffPost reports.

Detectives later cleared Blaine of all the charges.

The magician first “found fame with stunts such as staying in a box nine metres (30ft) in the air for 40 days in London, and being buried in a plastic box for a week”, says Sky News.