Philadelphia — A female acquaintance of comedian Bill Cosby has made an allegation against him that has prompted a police investigation in Pennsylvania, the entertainer’s attorney said Thursday.

Attorney Walter Phillips said he spoke Thursday with authorities in Pennsylvania who told him they have begun an investigation. He would not discuss the specifics of the allegation — which he called “utterly preposterous” — but said it amounts to, at the most, “inappropriate touching.”

No charges have been brought against Cosby. Phillips said the accuser, who lives in Canada, knows Cosby and the alleged incident in question happened about a year ago.

Police in Cheltenham Township, Pa., a Philadelphia suburb where Cosby has a home, declined to comment.

“I know the person making the accusation hasn’t been contacted by authorities,” Phillips said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press from his office in Philadelphia. “We are hopeful and optimistic that no charges will be brought forward.”

Dave Selby, a spokesman with the Durham Regional Police in Durham, Ontario, said police had passed on allegations from a woman there to authorities in Pennsylvania but declined to confirm whether they involved Cosby.

Cosby postponed a town hall meeting in Cleveland on Thursday and has postponed three upcoming shows in Florida, his publicist David Brokaw said. Brokaw would not say whether the postponements have anything to do with the recent allegation.