It should come as no surprise that ever since Sheldon Stephens came out with accusations of underaged sexual abuse at the hands of Kevin Clash, that more alleged victims would be coming out of the woodwork.
Now that a second victim Cecil Singleton has come forward saying that he had sex with Kevin Clash back when he was 15, Clash has officially resigned from playing Elmo, who is one of the most popular puppets on Sesame Street. Singleton, who is now in his 30's says that he met Clash on a gay chatline in 1993 when he was just 15.
According to the $5 million suit filed in New York, Clash “groomed [Singleton] to gain his trust by, among other things, taking him to nice dinners and giving him money.”
The court papers further state Clash was “preying on teenage boys to satisfy his depraved sexual interests.”
Sesame Workshop said in a statement about Clash’s resignation: “Sesame Workshop’s mission is to harness the educational power of media to help all children the world over reach their highest potential. Kevin Clash has helped us achieve that mission for 28 years, and none of us, especially Kevin, want anything to divert our attention from our focus on serving as a leading educational organization.”
“Unfortunately, the controversy surrounding Kevin’s personal life has become a distraction that none of us want, and he has concluded that he can no longer be effective in his job and has resigned from Sesame Street. This is a sad day for Sesame Street,” concludes the statement.
I should also point out that Stephens dropped his accusations last Friday but then the story emerged again two days later when it was revealed that he was paid $125,000 to drop the suit and claim that they were in a “adult consensual relationship.” Whether or not it was a consensual relationship, it looks like they were both trying to extort each other. Sheldon wanted more money because his career as a model/actor isn't going anywhere, and Kevin has a weakness for young boys. As for Cecil (seen in pic above), I'm not condoning what happened to him but what was he doing on a chat line cruising for sex?
I have a strange feeling that by the end of Thanksgiving the list of underaged boys will be about as long as the list of chicks that claimed to have had sex with a married Tiger Woods. I actually think while little kids watching Sesame Street won't have a clue as to what is going on in regards to the drama, I do feel that it is best that he resign, since it will only cause more of a distraction. if they can find people to replace Jim Henson after he died, they can find another actor to do Elmo's voice.
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