The Smoking Gun website has uncovered the identity of the man who accused puppeteer Kevin Clash of having an under-age sexual relationship with him.
Citing two sources—a family member and a friend—The Smoking Gun said Clash's accuser is 24-year-old Sheldon Stephens, an aspiring model and actor.
Stephens did not respond to requests for comment made by the website to his Facebook and Twitter accounts, according to The Smoking Gun's article.
Through the website TMZ, a Dundalk native and 1979 graduate of Dundalk High School, of the sexual impropriety, and recanted his accusation the next day through a statement issued by the Harrisburg, PA law firm of Andreozzi and Associates.
According to The Smoking Gun, Stephens reportedly has a checkered past. He was accused of passing a bad check, and those charges were dropped after he settled the debt with a Harrisburg business.
He was also accused of robbing a music manager at gunpoint, taking $250,000 worth of jewelry, but the manager later claimed to not recall the robbery. A friend of Stephens' characterized the incident as a "misunderstanding" and a "domestic dispute," according to The Smoking Gun.
While Clash has stated through his attorneys that he is relieved the situation is resolved, The Smoking Gun said the recantation comes after TMZ effectively outed Clash as gay.
"I have never been ashamed of this or tried to hide it, but felt it was a personal and private matter," Clash said in a statement regarding his sexuality.
Sesame Workshop, which produces Sesame Street, the program on which Clash provides the voice and personality of the muppet Elmo, allowed Clash to take a leave of absence from the company so he could work to clear his reputation.
While the recantation comes as a relief to the puppeteer, he isn't headed back to work yet, according to Fox 411.
"Kevin has asked for some additional time to put this ordeal behind him, which we totally understand," Sesame Workshop officials told the news outlet.
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Throughout human history, wealthy, powerful, popular older adults - of both sexes - have had heterosexual or/and homosexual affairs with younger adults. Some young adults willingly - often aggressively - enter into sexual relationships with older and wealthier adults; so as to receive various gifts from those older adults. The younger adults often possess greater natural attractiveness than their older sex partners, and those older adults often maintain a degree of control over the younger ones. But, it's not unusual for the young partner to try and completely control the affair; either by threatening to reveal secrets of the affair or to lie about the facts of it. Sometimes, when the affair doesn't go how the young partner wants it to, they become angry and do something to somehow hurt the older partner. It looks to be that Sheldon Stephens has done so to Kevin Clash and others. I bet that Stephens wants more out of life than his acting and modeling efforts can bring him, so he has sexual affairs with men whom he sometimes hurts when they don't do for Shelden what Sheldon wants done. It doesn't bother me that the voice and soul of Elmo is Gay, but millions of us heterosexuals are hurt by how we learned about it. Personally, it isn't Kevin Clash who hurt me, it was Sheldon Stephens.
PBS TV programs that I watch everyday are also something positive, entertaining and educational in many ways. The talk shows are sensible - not sensational in a sick way that is demeaning to guests on the shows. The news programs are straight forward and well balanced. Many PBS programs help me better understand our world - out in wild nature, in human nature and in scientific facts about our world from the center of the earth out into the infinities of the universe . PBS teaches history realistically. The comedies are outstanding, and the music is fantastic. America is a far better place to live with PBS TV stations broadcasting to most of the country. And National Public Radio is good for our country, too.
I personally feel that we allow too much access to the sex offenders lists today and that some idiots who don't know who can get on the sex offenders lists might do something like murder someone on the lists who was just put on there for pissing in a bush. Yep, you can get on the sex offenders list just for being caught doing that, which is how totally insane the sex offenders list's expansion has gotten. Only a few types of sex offenders should be on the list: child forcible rapists, adult forcible rapists, child rapist/murderers and adult rapist/murders. Though, in the last two cases, those people if caught will probably never (rightly) see the outside of a prison ever again.
A second person has stepped forward claiming he had sexual relations with Clash as a teen. http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/elmo-resigns-new-accusations-article-1.1205034
http://dundalk.patch.com/articles/kevin-clash-resigns-as-voice-of-elmo http://dundalk.patch.com/articles/clash-faces-allegations-of-second-accuser-nov-20-2012