Elmo puppeteer cleared of underage sex claim
 

A man who accused a Sesame Street puppeteer of having underage sex with him has recanted his story.

The anonymous 23-year-old admitted through a lawyer that his sexual relationship with Kevin Clash had been an "adult consensual" one.

Mr Clash, 52, who has operated Elmo since the 1980s, said he was "relieved" the allegation had been dropped.

On Monday, Sesame Street producers said they were satisfied the accuser's claim of underage sex was "unsubstantiated".

Sesame Street had given Mr Clash a leave of absence as he took action to protect his reputation.

Mr Clash did not deny the relationship, but said it happened after the young man was an adult.

"I am relieved that this painful allegation has been put to rest," he said in a statement on Tuesday. "I will not discuss it further."

Sesame Street said in a statement it was "pleased that this matter has been brought to a close".

The show did not say when it expected Mr Clash to return to work.

The accuser contacted the Sesame Street Workshop in June, claiming he had been in a relationship with the puppeteer that started when he was 16.

"We conducted a thorough investigation and found the allegation of underage conduct to be unsubstantiated," the Sesame Street Workshop said in a statement on Monday.

Producers said Mr Clash had only shown "poor judgement" in violating company policy on internet usage, although they did not elaborate.

Mr Clash, the subject of 2011 documentary Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey, has won several Daytime Emmy awards for his work on Sesame Street.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-20320172

Up to know I have belived the death penalty is wrong.

But the scum who acused elmo clearly deserves death.

I agree :thumbsup

I didn't know about Kevin Clash, the man working the Elmo puppet for so many year, until the news broke about the allegations, but he seemed like a pretty decent person from the public accounts I perused (I always assumed that there were multiple puppeteers for each character).



Glad he is cleared, although it makes one wonder why the story broke in the first place, and I would expect a lawsuit against the accuser (or else it could leave the question open about whether the accuser was paid off to recant, a la Michael Jackson).

:smilie_we

ADG

Wait...Sesame Street Workshop has their own investigators?! :1orglaugh

it could be due to the uk (bbc et al) with all the recent child abuse claims.

in the uk its going nuts in the uk.

so i am guessing that tv stations all over may be wrorried and are over reacting.

i just hope that this does not affect his work.

i like that chap and its interesting he has become a star himself.

Bert & Ernie.

Bit of a bummer for the guy who just had his name dragged through the mud by the mass media.

stuff like this could damange your tv work.

i wonder if long term he will get as much work now as he did.

will people buy elmo toys as much as they did.

at least he is very liked (the chap who does elmo) so i hope its not going to affect him.

but the chap realy is skilled and in fact to me is the modern version of Jim Henson in many ways.

i love the mupets. i guess becase it started in the uk, so even know i sort of think of it as british.

when Jim Henson died it was one of the wost days of my life. he came to the uk just before he died. he did not want to let his fans down.

http://www.afterelton.com/sites/www....o-homeless.jpg

:smilie_we

ADG

I'll agree with you just once.

not even funny :disgust

I'm glad that this is being as publicized as the initial allegations. Hopefully he'll be able to get back into the swing on things and it'll fade away.

and now everyone knows he's gay which will no doubt get some parents all worked up.