There's Just No End To This Stuff...
Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2012 11:09 pm
http://gma.yahoo.com/elmo-actor-kevin-c ... ws-tv.htmlElmo Actor Kevin Clash Resigns Amid Sex Allegation
Kevin Clash, the actor who created the voice and persona of Elmo on Sesame Street, resigned from the children's show today in the wake of a new allegation that he had a sexual relationship with an underage boy.
A federal lawsuit was filed this morning in New York, said Jeff Herman, the attorney for the second accuser, who he identified as Cecil Singleton. It was not yet known how much money Singleton sought in the suit.
It was the second accusation of underage sex made public in the past two weeks against Clash. The first accuser, an unidentified 23-year-old man, later recanted his claim.
Herman said Singleton chose to speak out now in order to "spare the lives of others like him and to begin his own healing process."
"According to our lawsuit, Kevin Clash preyed on vulnerable teenage boys, like Cecil Singleton, to satisfy his depraved sexual interests," Herman said.
Sesame Street: The Voices Behind the Puppets
Singleton, now in his 30s, claimed he met Clash in a gay chat line in the early 1990s and had his first sexual encounter with him when he was 15 years old, according to details of the complaint posted on Herman's website.
During those alleged phone interactions, Clash allegedly "persuaded, induced, coerced or enticed" the teenager to meet him for sexual encounters, gaining his trust by taking him to fancy dinners and giving him money.
Clash did not acknowledge the new allegation, but said he was resigning due to "personal matters."
"Personal matters have diverted attention away from the important work Sesame Street is doing and I cannot allow it to go on any longer. I am deeply sorry to be leaving and am looking forward to resolving these personal matters privately," he said in a statement.
Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit organization behind the popular children's show, said it was a "sad day for Sesame Street."
"Unfortunately, the controversy surrounding Kevin's personal life has become a distraction that none of us wants, and he has concluded that he can no longer be effective in his job and has resigned from Sesame Street," Sesame Workshop said in a statement.
