Another man has come forward to say he also had sex when he was a minor with the voice of Elmo. Kevin Clash flew the boy to NYC from Miami when he was 15 or 16 for the purpose of having sex. That is a whole bunch of laws being broken right there. what kind of parent lets their kid fly from Miami to NYC to meet a guy in his 30's? Who does that? I don't care who he is or what show he is on, you know it is not going to turn out well. Apparently the two had sex on multiple occasions while the teen was there. He is now suing. So, now there are four accusers who have sued. How many are out there who have not sued? Did Sesame Street know this was going on? Don't say no so quickly. Look at the BBC scandal with sexual molestation of kids. They knew.
gross
ReplyDeleteHow is he meeting these guys? If it was through events sponsered by SS, then there is a chance they were aware.
ReplyDeleteUgh. I hate this. I was so moved by the documentary "Being Elmo". I wish Kevin Clash had sought counseling for his inappropriate sexual attraction to young men instead of acting on it. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with him being gay. But I don't think being attracted to 15 year-olds of any gender is okay.
ReplyDeleteOh my.
ReplyDeleteI will be so disillusioned if it turns out Sesame Street knew about this.
ReplyDeleteUgh. This is upsetting.
ReplyDeleteCan we just skip all the negative stuff and go straight to Reader Photos? Please? They make me smile :-)
That's sweet.
DeleteThis is fact or is this an allegation?
ReplyDeleteI'm with S. Joy. The prostitot Hallmark card, Elmo's buggering 15year olds, Wilmer's ruined another life, the DJ's, can't we have something more positive? Please? Like maybe a favorite Xmas present you ever got? Favorite Holiday? Something to lighten the mood Enty, it's Xmastime after all.
ReplyDeleteThank you!! Mondays are already horrible enough lol.. I need a pick-me-up.
DeleteOr they're just out to make a buck. It makes me question credibility of the alleged victims since they're just now suing for money, instead of going to the proper authorities when the crimes allegedly happened. If it were my child, I'd want justice, not money. I think most parents worth their salt would feel the same. Sounds like a money grab to me.
ReplyDeleteOf course, any parent worth their salt wouldn't ship off their children to go party with a 30 something year old man either. The whole things stinks to me.
ReplyDeletedickle me elmo
ReplyDeleteYou throw money around like chum and the crocodiles and sharks gather.
ReplyDeleteProve it in a court of law.
If he did it, there are records.
Produce them.
That's all I'm saying.
Bull shit. If you had suck a problem with it why didn't you either A) NOT GO TO MIAMI TO HAVE SEX WITH A 30 SOMETHING ELMO or B) Sue right when this shit happened.
ReplyDeleteI don't doubt that Elmo may have done some naughty things but don't act like you are the victim here little boy. You choose to take part, you choose to fly to Miami knowing full well what was going to go down.
I got molested by Gary Gnu when I was a kid, but I don't think there's much money to go after there.
ReplyDelete@dragon
ReplyDeleteBest comment I have seen on here in a long time.
@dragon, LOL
ReplyDeleteLucas, I know. I loved that documentary and was so impressed with all Kevin Clash did and how hard he worked. Nothing wrong with his being gay, but the teenagers ... wrong, wrong, wrong. Hope he gets help and the victims get help.
ReplyDeleteI'm with those that are questioning why these people don't have the authorities involved, and are simply suing for money? Sandusky had victims that are now around 30 y/o and they testified in court to put him behind bars.
ReplyDeleteI could be off-base, but kind of like Merlin is saying, prove it. Otherwise, to me, it looks like they see a guy who is willing to throw money at a problem to make it go away.
Because in NY State the statue of limitations has run out. Which only leaves them civil court to sue in.
ReplyDeleteAnd quit comparing this to molestation. Having sex with a teenager isn't right but it's not "molestation."
ReplyDeleteSesame Street was not going to let this cash cow go
ReplyDeleteClash's alleged victims have only a lawsuit as an option b/c New York has a short statute of limitations compared to PA. Says the NYT:
ReplyDeletePennsylvania actually has a relatively lenient age limit for filing child sex abuse charges—30 for civil cases and 50 for criminal cases. In New York, a victim only has five years after his or her 18th birthday to lodge a complaint. Turn 23, and the justice system shrugs.
http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/11/humiliation-shame-and-fear/
I am starting to feel the same way about this whole thing as I did about Michael Jackson. Even if he's guilty, and I think he is, the fact that these guys are all going for the big cash prize rather than holding his feet to the fire with actual legal action proves that it isn't about actual issues with molestation so much as it as about embarassing him. I think he did have sex with underage people with their consent and it's gross, but so is shaking him down for thousands of dollars.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if SS will phase out Elmo? It is going to be very interesting to see how they go with this.
ReplyDeleteThat's what he gets, he's an adult and should have known better.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of Elmo, the Elmo toys are REALLY cheap at Toys R Us. I wish my kids had gotten into Elmo, but they like Cookie Monster and Big Bird.
ReplyDeletePerhaps due to these coming to light, the day will arrive when ANYONE considering doing anything untoward/illegal with anyone underage (gay/straight/whatever) will possibly THINK FIRST BEFORE following through. Then they will not do it. If not out of decency, then at least out of fear of career damage/financial loss. Whatever it takes. One can only hope...
ReplyDeleteAmazing how people can justify teenagers with 30+ year olds as not molestation. Why isn't everyone ready to take down Sesame Street and PBS like they were Penn State? Hypocrite much?
ReplyDeleteI'm with you there, I keep wondering if the NAMBLA P.R. is really working if so many think this is fine. Its called grooming, it's how abusers work to get their kicks.
DeleteSpeaking of "grooming," it happens with older people too. I've seen older guys go after the under 25 women and play with their heads. This happens in a lot of relationships where the power is unequal.
ReplyDeleteI work in academia and it happens a lot.
IMO...there is a huge difference between being sexually attracted to a person pre puberty than post puberty. Post puberty, a body takes on that of an adult ready to procreate (usually). We are hard wired to be attracted to that. But there are laws of consent in place to protect young adults, so we must abide by them. Being sexually attracted to the human form pre puberty is just disgusting.
ReplyDeleteI think we'd be calling for clash's head had the males in question been under 15.
So it's ok cause my 16 year old has a rocking body that some old perv can have her cause we're hard wired for it? You try explaining that one to the cops or better yet me when I take off your privates.
Delete@Angela. my post doesn't suggest that it's okay, please read it again.
DeleteI don't think SS knew. From what most of the accusers have said, he met them at places like gay chat lines. They didn't know who he was until much later, so he doesn't appear to have used his SS status to bed them.
ReplyDeleteDidn't he get in touch with 1 or 2 of the "victims" via gay chat lines? So they were under age, but on chat lines which, I assume, was a means to meet for physical encounters? It does weaken their case if true.
ReplyDeleteIs there some statute of limitations for sex with a minor that has passed that is causing them to "sue" rather than just going to the police and getting this guy arrested and charged with a crime? Or is this just about the money that a lawsuit will bring?
ReplyDeleteRight now I am all riled up about the local daycare run by the wife of a convicted sex offender where the husband molested days old infants....I am kind of disgusted with this and I would like these guys locked away, not paying their way out of it.
Sorry I missed that someone in an earlier post said that the time limit has passed. Seems like that kind of limitation should be pretty broad--there are a LOT of people who are molested as kids who do not gather the strength to go after it until they are adults.
ReplyDeleteWhen people talk about child abuse, it's usually something unpleasant and physically painful.
ReplyDeleteWhen it's a teenager, it's a bit different. The abuse is psychological and stems from the normal progression of relationships being interrupted by someone much older and much more experienced. The physical component is not necessarily unpleasant, which is the whole point.
The teenage child does not have the emotional maturity to deal with the consequences when the older party tires of them, gets arrested, or just moves on. The child has fallen into it's version of love, because of all the attention it is receiving from the older woman/man and confuses that with mature love.
I will always argue that the laws for age of consent is needed desperately, and that parents really need to try to pay attention to what their teens are doing and who they are seeing.
If I sound as if I know what I'm talking about, I do.
When I was 16 there was this 30 year old guy who wanted to date me or sleep with me or whatever the real reason was. He took me to nice places, got me little gifts, and as a 16 year old, i felt really special and more a treat that an older guy took an interest me. I was a proper dorky kid, who had never gotten any interest from any guy, so I felt on top of the world an older guy, who had graduated from university, had a great job was interested in me. We tried sex, but there was no penetration as it was too painful for me as I was a virgin.
ReplyDeleteI was so terrified doing it again with him becos of the pain so it didn't go further. He was so pissed at me and also became quite mean becos I wouldn't have sex and that made me feel like a total failure. Made me feel, I had turned down a good opportunity to be in a relationship as he couldn't be with me as I was a virgin. On another occasion, he almost raped me but stopped short as someone came and knocking on the door. As silly as this sounds, it took a good few years after, to realise what he did to me was wrong. Years later as well, I was somewhere and someone was discussing how he had raped a couple of girls but the girls couldn't say anything becos they didn't want to tarnish their names or wanted people to know that they had been raped. I also would never say anything to anyone who knows either of us, but I will be thrilled the day people came out to accuse him publicly.
While I don't know why more people are coming out of the wood works now to accuse Kevin Clash, but sometimes people have courage when they realise they were not the only victims, and it could also be strength in numbers and of cos they could also be after a financial game.
Here's the thing...there are so many 18 and 19 year olds that look 15, and are totally legal to date. Is it a game to him that he gets away with it?
ReplyDeleteI had a client who was secretly meeting guys online while living at his parents' house. And he would hook up with them at a nearby park. He thought they were secret lovers in the sense that the older men could see how wonderful he was and they would give him freedom and the life he longed for. He would have said that a friend was flying him to NY
ReplyDeleteI met him at an event in the Summer of 2008. He didn't set off my "creepy predator" nerve - but while a friend chose to get her "picture with Elmo" I opted out. I think because it struck me at the time that one was not the other. Elmo is a character created and portrayed Clash.
ReplyDeleteI really get sick of the tarnishing of the character, Elmo, due to failings of the man behind him.
Whatever the reality of the case, it had nothing to do with Elmo. 15 year old boys aren't remotely interested in Elmo or Sesame Street. There's no 'lure' there. Sandusky lured young boys with football. MJ with Neverland and fame. Clash? Did not use Elmo to lure 15 y.o. boys into inappropriate relationships.
Can we please quit trying to link Sesame Street to this? Even the BBC guy was using his show/power/status to lure children. But what 15 y.o. dreams of Elmo?