Kevin Clash, Elmo Voice, Cleared By Accuser; Now Parents Have Some ‘Xplainin To Do

Kevin Clash, the Executive Producer for voice of Sesame Street’s Elmo (as well as Baby Sinclair, Clifford, Splinter and Hoots the Owl), was first accused of underage sex with a man when that person was 16, was now cleared by that same person. Leading this blogger to wonder if Mr. Clash is going to file a defamation claim. Clash not only has to at least consider such a move, but also assist Sesame Street in solving an even larger problem: explaining the entire issue to their kids.

It’s not just that Elmo and Sesame Street are wildly popular with kids and teens, many of those same kids and teens are online and use Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and other forms of social media. In fact, about 10 percent of kids aged 0 to 17 use Twitter, alone. It’s almost certain that a fair percentage of them will see tweets about Kevin Clash, Elmo, and the entire news about the sex scandal, forgetting the age issue.

That’s the sticking point behind Clash’s return. The assumption many parents make is that the voice of a character who’s liked by their kids has some kind of relationship that’s not considered fodder for TMZ. So, here comes the problem Kevin Clash presents: he was 47 and the he was 18, and the kid’s certainly going to talk about it with their peers.

Sesame Street released this statement:

We are pleased that this matter has been brought to a close, and we are happy that Kevin can move on from this unfortunate episode.

How About The Name Of The Accuser?

What’s equally troubling is that the accuser gets to run away and hide without having his name released for public view. The effort should be to do so, if only to convince others not to take this awful course of action against someone else, especially a public figure like Kevin Clark.

Genia Clash, Kevin’s Ex-Wife, Also Harmed

The other persons certainly harmed in this sex scandal are Genia Clash and their daughter, Shannon Elise. Ms. Clash is Mr. Clash’s ex-Wife, having divorced from Kevin in 2003. That’s just about a year before Kevin had his ill-fated sexual relationship with the accuser, as Kevin was 47 and that man was 18 – Clash is now 52 years old. One can only hope that Shannon Elise doesn’t suffer from school teasing about her father’s story.

That defamation lawsuit should look pretty good about now.

What a mess. Clash was even called a “notable dad” by the New York Mayor’s Office.

Stay tuned.