File this one under, "Cradle Robbers are Creepy". The voice of beloved pupped Elmo, Kevin Clash, is caught up in a sex scandal. He is accused of having underage sex with a 16 year old boy.
The unnamed accuser, now 23, claims that he and Clash began their sexual relationship seven years ago, when he was 16 and the puppeteer was 45.
Clash, now 52, admits to being intimate with the accuser, but only after he turned 18.
"I had a relationship with [the accuser]," Clash said, according to Fox News. "It was between two consenting adults and I am deeply saddened that he is trying to make it into something it was not."
Sesame Workshop, the non-profit organization that produces the long-running show, received a "communication" from Clash's accuser during the summer.
The company released a statement today saying Clash exercised "poor judgment," but conducted an in-house investigation that discredited claims of underage sex.
See, this right here is why he should be fired. Not because of the underage sex allegation, that is still an allegation, and if true he should be prosecuted. No, he should be fired because he's stupid. Someone who works for a children's TV show should not engage in cradle robbing on the job. Clash admits to knowing and having a "platonic" relationship with the accuser when he was 16. He admits to using company email to communicate with the accuser. So basically, he admits to using very, very poor judgement.
People that work with children are in a special position of trust and should strive to maintain a certain professional distance and respectable image. Dating someone just over the legal limit that you used to know when they were a child, although not illegal, gives the wrong impression and should be avoided. Teachers that date fresh high school grads, and coaches that date students that age off their teams are all in the same boat...creepy cradle robbers that should find another line of work.
But back to Clash. It seems their may be more fire to this smoke:
Kevin Clash -- the man who voices Elmo -- had an email exchange with his accuser in 2010 in which he apologized for constantly talking about sex ... and promised to make all of his "dreams come true" ... TMZ has learned.
We broke the story ... Clash was disciplined by Sesame for sending a personal email from his Sesame Street email account. The email was sent to a man who now claims he had a sexual relationship with Clash when he was 16 and Clash was 45.
In the email -- sent well after the accuser turned 18 -- Clash writes, "I'm sorry that I keep talking about sex with you, its driving me insane."
He adds, "I want you to know that I love you and I will never hurt you. I'm here to protect you and make sure your dreams come true."
Clash continued, "I'll have my assistant book a ticket for you to come to NY and we can talk about this in person."
Make your dreams come true? Can't stop talking about sex with you? I don't know, but to me that seems straight out of the Chester the Molester handbook. Common sense says that if he was sending him messages like this when he was about 18, that he has been doing it for a minute. And the tone of the messages, "I'm sorry I keep talking about sex", "I'm here to protect you", doesn't exactly sound like romance...sounds more like grooming a mark that is uncomfortable with the attention and direction of the communication.
I suppose there will be an opening for the voice of Elmo in 4,3,2...
