Has our entire world become a cesspool of depravity and degeneracy?
Elmo, the cute red muppet on taxpayer-subsidized PBS’s Sesame Street, or rather the 52-year-old man who supplies the voice of Elmo, Kevin Clash, is accused of pederasty — of having had “inappropriate sexual relations” with an underage 16-year-old boy.
TMZ has an exclusive report, Nov. 12, 2012, that Clash has taken a leave of absence from the popular children’s show after a 23-year-old man contacted the show’s lawyers claiming he had a sexual relationship with Clash seven years ago, when he was 16 and Clash was 45.
Clash admitted to TMZ he had a relationship with the young man — but insists it only took place AFTER the accuser was an adult.
Sources with direct knowledge of the situation tell TMZ that after the accuser’s initial meeting with Sesame Street, he felt Sesame Workshop’s lawyers were trying to muzzle him, so he lawyered up with Andreozzi and Associates — the firm that represented one of the victims in the Jerry Sandusky child rape case.
On August 15, 2012, Andreozzi fired off a letter to Sesame, accusing the company of trying to “discredit the victim in order to protect its employee and the image of one of its most valuable characters,” adding, “This approach places a greater value on a puppet than the well being of a young man.”
Sesame Workshop officials tell TMZ they’ve determined the allegation of underage sex was unsubstantiated after conducting “a thorough investigation.” They say they never tried to silence the accuser and that they had asked the accuser for evidence supporting his claim, but he never produced it.
The accuser claims to have email — which TMZ obtained — purportedly sent by Clash in which Clash acknowledges they had an affair when the accuser was 16. But Sesame officials, while admitting there were emails between Clash and the accuser for which Clash has been disciplined for inappropriate use of company email, insist the emails don’t suggest there was underage sex.
~Eowyn
