When a second young man accused Elmo puppeteer and Sesame Street talent Kevin Clash of sexual abuse, Clash resigned, saying, "I am deeply sorry to be leaving and am looking forward to resolving these personal matters privately." And he may have to deal with a lot of them—the latest accuser's lawyer says, "I have been contacted by a couple of young men who allege similar facts to those alleged by" his client.
Last week, Sheldon Stephens accused Clash of sexual abuse, only for Stephens to recant his claims, apparently after a $125,000 settlement (Stephens allegedly regrets taking the settlement). But then Cecil Singleton emerged this week, saying he was 15 when he met Clash on a gay telephone chat line in 2003. While Clash did not have sex with him, Singleton claims he was still groped and kissed by the then-42-year-old Clash.
Singleton's lawyer Jeff Herman told the Daily Mail, "I'm still vetting [these other men who claimed to have been abused] so cannot go into too much detail but their allegations are very similar... Let's be clear. We're not talking about underage sex here. There is no such thing as consensual sex with a minor. There is sexual abuse."
The Smoking Gun, which obtained Singleton's complaint (he's suing Clash for $5 million), noted that Herman's initial filing "asserted that Singleton began having sex with Clash in 1993 (when the accuser would have been five). An amended copy of the complaint noted that Singleton was born in 1988 and that the alleged sexual activity with Clash commenced around 2003."
Clash has reportedly filmed enough episodes as Elmo for Sesame Street to go through 2014.
