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| **Accused of Pedophylia Actor/Puppeteer Kevin Clash poses with child icon Elmo. |
The voice of Elmo, Kevin Clash, resigned today amid new allegations of sexual misconduct with underaged boys, “Sesame Street” producers and the famed puppeteer said.
Since last week, two young men have accused Clash of picking them up for underaged sex.
Clash was granted a leave of absence last week to fight accusations made by Sheldon Stephens, 24, of Harrisburg, Pa.
But Clash quit today, after a lawsuit was filed by 24-year-old Harlem student Cecil Singleton, who claims he was just 15 when the Elmo voice had sexual contact with him in 2003.
"I am resigning from Sesame Workshop with a very heavy heart. I have loved every day of my 28 years working for this exceptional organization,” Clash said in a prepared statement.
“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."
Clash’s sudden downfall came hours after Singleton’s lawsuit was filed Manhattan federal court.
Singleton claims he met Clash in 2003, through a gay telephone chat line.
The plaintiff said there was no intercourse with Clash until after he turned 18.
Before then, their intimate contact included "groping, masturbation, just a lot of intense kissing, touching, that kinda thing, dry-humping,” Singleton matter-of-factly told reporters during a Midtown press conference this afternoon.
When they first met, both initially lied about their ages, according to Singleton.
"I was 15. At the time I was unaware of his occupation. Initially, as far as [Clash] knew I was an 18-year-old student and he was a 36-year-old school official who traveled and was recently out of a relationship,” Singleton said, summing up their initial hookup.
They allegedly both came clean at their first dinner together.
"I remember confessing to him while we were eating that I wasn't 18, but that I would be turning 16 in the near future. He told me he wasn't 36 either,” said Singleton. "I felt really uncomfortable about the idea that he was two years older than my mother.”
From a distance, the striking accuser could pass for a runway model – average height for a woman, slight build with sleek, long black hair down to his mid-back.
With his beautifully arched eyebrows and black scoop-neck sweater, Singleton calmly explained how he fell for Clash despite the big age gap.
“He made a comment about maturity and that age was nothing but a number,” Singleton recalled.
Despite his sensational claims against Clash, Singleton actually had many kind words for the puppeteer: "He was a gentlemen. There wasn't nothing overly aggressive. He made me feel very comfortable."
Singleton had kept this secret for years and didn’t think about coming out, until Stephens’ story emerged last week.
“Honestly, I put Kevin on a pedestal,” Singleton said.
“If I would have known that this was a recurrent thing, or that I wasn't special and that wasn't a unique circumstance I would have said something much sooner."
Singleton’s lawyer Jeffrey Herman said his client had a duty to come forward.
“Kevin Clash was an unmarried adult male living a prominent public life centered around the entertainment of toddlers, while at the same time he was, in secret, preying on teenage boys to satisfy his depraved sexual interests,” Herman wrote in the lawsuit.
Clash pushed all the right emotional buttons to make his young target feel special, the lawyer said.
“He [Singleton] thought he was the only one. He never looked at himself as a victim,” Herman said. “He was a compliant victim, he just wasn’t a consenting victim because he couldn’t be. He was only 15.”
Singleton believes there might be other boys who have been seduced by Clash.
“After seeing what happened last week, he saw the pattern and the other potential teens this has probably happened to,” Herman said. “That’s when he decided to come forward.”
Clash took Singleton to dinner, once helped him pay a phone bill and helped him out with spending money from time to time -- no more than “three digits,” according to Herman.
"[Clash] trolled gay telephone chat line rooms to meet and have sex with underage boys,” according to the explosive lawsuit.
"[Clash] groomed Cecil to gain his trust by, among other things, taking him to nice dinners and giving him money."
The lawsuit said Singleton "did not become aware that he had suffered adverse psychological and emotional effects from Kevin Clash's sexual acts and conduct until 2012."
Singleton is asking more than $5 million, and Herman said he's been in touch with other, potential accusers.
Clash faced a similar accusation of underage sex last week, in another complaint that just won’t go away.
The first accuser Stephens said he and Clash had intimate contact when the young man was just 16. The puppeteer concedes they had a relationship, but claims any sex happened after Stephens turned 18.
Stephens withdrew his complaint against Clash last week, but now wants to recant his recantation.
He’s interviewing lawyers in hopes of ripping up the $125,000 deal he made with Clash last week, according to TMZ.
Stephens’ Pennsylvania lawyers released this statement on his behalf last week: 'He [Stephens] wants it to be known that his sexual relationship with Mr. Clash was an adult consensual relationship.”
Sesame Workshop, the educational non-profit that produces the venerable kids show, said Clash’s battle with accusers made it impossible for him to work on “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,’ “ according a statement by Sesame Workshop.
“This is a sad day for `Sesame Street.’ ”
Sesame Workshop today thanked Clash, who has been the voice of Elmo since 1984, for all his years of service.
“Sesame Workshop’s mission is to harness the educational power of media to help all children the world over reach their highest potential,” according to Sesame Workshop.
“Kevin Clash has helped us achieve that mission for 28 years, and none of us, especially Kevin, want anything to divert our attention from our focus on serving as a leading educational organization.”
source: New York Post
*Additional reporting by Leonard Greene
**Additional editing: Mine
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