LONDON, UK — Jimmy Tarbuck, a British comedian and TV host, has been arrested in connection with the alleged sexual abuse of a young boy.

Citing sources, the Guardian reported that Tarbuck, 73, was questioned by North Yorkshire police in relation to an incident that allegedly occurred in the late 1970s.

The alleged victim was at the time a young boy.

A police spokesman said:

"North Yorkshire police can confirm that a 73-year-old man has been arrested in connection with a historic child sex abuse investigation in Harrogate. The man was arrested in Kingston Upon Thames on Friday 26 April 2013."

Tarbuck lives in Kingston-Upon-Thames, southwest London. He was reportedly released on bail.

The arrest followed the passing of information from Metropolitan police officers investigating Jimmy Savile, the BBC television host who died in 2011 and who is now linked to hundreds of cases of abuse.

Operation Yewtree was set up following Savile's death in 2011, when hundreds of sex abuse allegations came to light.

The arrests made in relation to Operation Yewtree have included about a dozen men who were well-known figures in a bygone era of British TV and media — including Rolf Harris (82, TV presenter), Max Clifford (70, celebrity publicist) and Freddie Starr (70, comedian).

As Sarah Lyall put it in the New York Times, “it is as if Captain Kangaroo, Dick Clark and Jerry Lewis were suddenly being accused of committing sexual crimes dating back 30 or 40 years.”