Elmo Accused of Having Sex With 16-Year-Old Boy

The voice of Elmo, Kevin Clash, is being accused of having sex with a then 16-year-old boy. The man, now 23, claims he and Clash began a sexual relationship 7 years ago when he was 16 and Clash was 45. Clash acknowledges he had a relationship with him but says it only took place after he became a consenting adult.

Sesame Workshop details to TMZ, “In June of this year, Sesame Workshop received a communication from a young man who alleged that he had a relationship with Kevin Clash beginning when he was 16-years-old. This was a personal relationship, unrelated to the workplace. We took the allegation very seriously and took immediate action.” An investigation was conducted by Sesame Workshop who says they tried to seek out evidence supporting his claim. They met with the accuser twice and concluded the allegations were unsubstantiated.

However, after their first meeting, Clash’s accuser felt Sesame Workshop was trying to silence him so he lawyered up with Anderozzi and Associates, the same firm that represented one of the victims in the Sandusky case.

Still, officials believe something doesn’t smell right because the accuser has an email supposedly sent by Clash acknowledging they had the affair when he was 16 and obtained by TMZ but the man never mentioned an email existed in their meetings. They think the email is a fake.

While there were other emails between Clash and his accuser, they don’t suggest any underage sex and officials say Clash has been disciplined for inappropriate use of company email.

Clash says, “I had a relationship with [the accuser]. It was between two consenting adults and I am deeply saddened that he is trying to make it into something it was not.”  He has now taken a leave of absence from Sesame Street to defend his honor. Oh, whew. For a second there, I read that as he was taking a leave of abstinence and thought that was a little bit extreme.