Kevin Clash faces his third allegation of underage sex in two weeks. The former longtime voice and puppeteer behind Sesame Street's iconic "Elmo" resigned last Tuesday after a second allegation was reported.
Clash is facing a federal lawsuit accusing him of "sexual activity with a 16-year-old in 2000," reports the New York Daily News.
[Attorney] Jeff Herman said his client started writing a book in 2009 describing his experience with Clash. The lawyer said he will have pages from that book at a press conference Tuesday to announce the lawsuit.
Herman said the accuser is from the South and was in high school when he came to New York 13 years ago for modeling work. He said his client connected with Clash — who went under the pseudonym “Craig” and claimed to be only 30 years old — on a gay chat line. The two chatted for a couple of days and then Craig invited the 16-year-old to his apartment.
In the apartment, Herman said his client realized Craig was older than 30. They also engaged in "some sexual activity.” Herman said his client met Clash again in 2003 and 2004, and over a period of time figured out who Clash was. "He saw Elmo dolls, an Emmy award and photographs of Elmo with movie stars," said Herman.
Clash was one of the executive producers at Sesame Street and worked on the popular children's television series since 1981. Clash had been Elmo's voice and puppetteer since at least 1984. He won 23 daytime Emmy awards and one prime-time Emmy.
Clash's departure from Sesame Street was in response to a second accuser who also filed a federal lawsuit in New York City. Cecil Singleton alleges that he was only 15-years-old when Clash began their sexual relationship almost a decade ago.
Clash was first accused two weeks ago by 24-year-old Sheldon Stephens, who later recanted his allegations. Stephens announced last week that the claims were indeed true and he was pressured into a financial settlement. Stephens has told his "lawyers he will gladly forfeit the $125,000 to restore his name," reports TMZ. Stephens says that he was only 16-years-old when the sexual relationship began.
The 52-year-old Clash is divorced and has a 19-year-old daughter. He has been publicly out since earlier this year.
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Gee, I hope every man Mr. Clash spoke to on the phone does not file a sexual harassment or rape lawsuit against him. HUNG UP!
Posted by: Kerq | 27 November 2012 at 19:44
If he was meeting men in online forums and didn't realize that one of them was actually a minor that had lied about his age, that might be an honest mistake - dumb, but honest. After multiple people come forward saying they had sexual relations with him when they were 16 and he was in his 30s, it's pretty obvious that he has a "type" he's attracted to (underaged, troubled, blatino, gender-ambiguous males apparently) and he should have known better. Check IDs or risk having this shit come back and blow up in your face. Especially if you work with kids! People who are convicted of having sex with minors sometimes end up being prohibited from ever having unsupervised contact with children. Not so smart if you work on Sesame Street. Clash is a moron.
Posted by: Greg G | 27 November 2012 at 23:28