Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Fourth Accuser Says Kevin Clash Offered to Be a Father Figure


The Elmo sex scandal grows more sordid as the fourth accuser claims Elmo voice actor Kevin Clash promised to be a father figure and take care of him...

From The NY Post
The alleged victim, now 33, said he was about 16 when he first met Clash, then 35, in 1995 while walking on a Miami beach. The two started talking — Clash complimented him on his looks, the man said — and the pair kept in touch over the phone.
After learning that the accuser had problems at home and wanted to run away, Clash, the voice of Elmo for 28 years until he resigned last month, promised to “be a dad” to him. Clash lured the young man to the city “with promises to pay for his plane ticket . . . and give him cash and a free place to stay,” according to the lawsuit, in which Clash’s latest accuser remains unnamed.
“[The accuser] had been abused by a teacher when he was 15 and was initially very leery of Kevin. But Kevin convinced him he would be safe” — by disclosing he was the man behind the world’s most beloved muppet, said the plaintiff’s lawyer, Miami-based Jeff Herman, who is also representing two other accusers.
“As soon as he got to New York, Kevin told him he was the voice of Elmo,” Herman said. The accuser stayed with Clash only a few days, when the abuse is alleged to have happened.
Herman said that because Clash is alleged to have transported his accuser across state lines for the purpose of engaging in sexual activity, he could face criminal charges.