Two days ago, The New York Times published a report on Russell Simmons, the Def Jam Records co-founder who recently stepped down from his businesses after being accused of sexual assault. The Times spoke with four women who accused Simmons of more sexual assaults; three of them said that Simmons had raped them. Simmons denies the claims and says that he’ll prove his innocence. But the New York Police Department has now started to investigate those rape allegations.

According to The New York Times, an NYPD official says that the police are starting a preliminary investigation into the allegations against Simmons. Many of the alleged attacks took place years ago, and the statute of limitations has expired, so it’s not clear that police would even be able to prosecute Simmons. But this appears to be one of the rare situations where one of the prominent men with sexual assault accusations might at least face some legal consequences.