Criminal Investigation Launched in Smokey Robinson Case

Last week three of singer / songwriter Smokey Robinson's former housekeepers accused him of sixual assault in a $50 million civil lawsuit [click here if you missed that].

Now a criminal investigation has been launched...

From TMZ

Smokey Robinson is now the subject of a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department investigation after multiple women came forward and filed police reports alleging sixual assault ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... three alleged victims -- all female -- filed police reports against Smokey on Friday with the sheriff's department. The department's special victims' unit has opened a criminal investigation into the claims. We're told the investigation is in its early stages.

Smokey Robinson's attorney Christopher Frost tells TMZ ... "We are aware that a police report has now been filed by the Plaintiffs in the civil lawsuit. It is clear to us what is happening here. Plaintiffs filed a police report only after they filed a $50 million lawsuit. This means only that the police are now required to investigate. We welcome that investigation, which involves Plaintiffs who continue to hide their identities, because exposure to the truth is a powerful thing.

We feel confident that a determination will be made that Mr. Robinson did nothing wrong, and that this is a desperate attempt to prejudice public opinion and make even more of a media circus than the Plaintiffs were previously able to create. The record will ultimately demonstrate that this is nothing more than a manufactured lawsuit intended to tarnish the good names of Smokey and Frances Robinson, for no other reason than unadulterated avarice."