Deputy Speaker faces more sex claims

The 55-year-old answered bail today following his arrest in May on suspicion of rape and sexual assault, and was told that he faces the additional allegations.

A Lancashire Constabulary spokesman said: “A 55-year-old man from Pendleton in Lancashire has today answered his bail following his arrest in May on suspicion of rape and sexual assault.

“He has subsequently been further arrested on suspicion of three further offences of indecent assault.

“He will be interviewed about these allegations at a police station in Lancashire during the course of the day.”

All of the allegations involve men in their 20s. The original rape and sexual assault charges are claimed to have happened in in Pendleton between July 2009 and March 2013.

The new indecent assault allegations are claimed to have occurred in Blackpool and London between 2003 and 2011.

Lancashire Police said: “We take all allegations of a sexual nature extremely seriously and understand how difficult it can be for victims to have the confidence to come forward.

“As a constabulary, we are committed to investigating sexual offences sensitively but robustly recognising the impact that these types of crimes have on victims.

“We would encourage anyone who has experienced sexual abuse, or who has information about it, to have the confidence to report it to us knowing that we will take it seriously, deal with it sensitively and investigate it thoroughly.”

Last month Tory MP Mr Evans dismissed the original allegations against him as “completely false”, and said they had been made by two people he had “regarded as friends”.

He said in a statement at the time: ‘’The complaints are completely false and I cannot understand why they have been made, especially as I have continued to socialise with one as recently as last week.”

The Commons Deputy Speaker has stepped aside from his duties in that role since his arrest, but has continued to work as an MP.

He was one of three deputy speakers elected in a secret ballot of MPs in 2010. Later that year he came out as gay, saying he was ‘’tired of living a lie”.