It’s rare that there is any sort of celebrity sex scandal that doesn’t result in a slew of additional accusers coming forward. Such is the case with 52-year-old Elmo puppeteer Kevin Clash, who is now dealing with a third man alleging Clash had sexual relations with him when he was underage. The new accuser, a now-29-year-old male model who is still nameless, filed in Manhattan Federal Court today and claims Clash gave him alcohol and engaged in various sexual acts with him when he was 16 years old. He refers to Clash as “Mr. Tickler” and says they played a game he called “father and son.”
The accuser says he met Clash through Powerchat, an online gay chat site, in 2000. He goes on to say he met Clash at his upscale Manhattan apartment and that Clash claimed to be 30 years old (he was actually 40 at the time) and that he used the name Craig.
The shocking announcement was made during a press conference in New York City today in which a page from a book written by the accuser was read, detailing his first encounter with Clash. (Yes, apparently he has a book he wrote prior to the scandal breaking! The full excerpt is included at the bottom of this post.)
It should be noted that the suit doesn’t claim Clash and the accuser engaged in sexual intercourse until after the accuser turned 18. As it reads in the book excerpt, “We first met when I was 16 and there was no intercourse, lots of heavy kissing and he showed me what it felt like to get on your knees and obey your man.” He continues:
I really just scoped his place out and acted very calm. On our first night I did not lose my virginity; however I learned what if felt like to have a man kiss you and take your breath away… I whispered to him, “I’ve never been touched there before.”
I could tell by the slight smile on his face that he wanted to be my first. “We will take things slow, just let me taste you,” he requested. I didn’t want to disappoint… When I left his home, I called my best friend and told him about my experience.
The accuser’s attorney, Jeff Herman, who is also representing Clash’s second accuser Cecil Singleton, said ‘What is really significant in this case is that this was my client’s first sexual encounter. It has had a continued impact on his life.” He later added:
“The behaviour that my clients call dating I call grooming. I see this in my work all the time whether it’s a priest, a boyscout leader, a teacher or an uncle.
“The first thing my client wants me to say is it’s not about money for him. There is no monetary amount attached to this claim and if it goes to trial that’s for the jury to decide.
“This is about standing by his fellow victims.”
At the press conference, Herman read a brief statement from the “victim” which read:
“I’m only coming forward to stand alongside my fellow victims who have been accused as liars. I too thought that it was about money at first but Cecil’s story stands by mine.
“I pray that Kevin seeks help because underneath these sexual demons is an incredible guy.”
Herman also revealed that just one week prior to the initial accusations, Kevin Clash contacted his client in Florida:
“First there was a text or phone call and my client told him he had moved to Florida and a couple of days later my client received a phone call from Kevin saying he was in Florida let’s meet up.
“He felt he was sounding him out to see what he was up to. He turned up out of the blue and wanted to talk about old times and to know if he hurt him.
“Kevin Clash told him he has a beautiful facial structure, beautiful bone structure. He’s a male model. He’s a good looking man. That just seems interesting timing to me.”
After an initial suspension, Clash has since resigned from his Elmo puppeteering job with Sesame Street and still maintains he did not have sex with anyone underage.
Here is the complete manuscript excerpt from the third man to accuse Kevin Clash of inappropriate sexual relations with a minor:
MY NIGHT WITH MR TICKLER WHEN HE TAUGHT ME HOW TO OBEY YOUR MAN . . .
So with my next romance I was on a chat room ‘Power Chat’. I met him before all of my male friends on a modeling trip in New York..
When we first met I was 16 and there was no intercourse; however lots of heavy kissing and he showed me what it felt like to get on your knees and obey your man.
I did fall for this new guy. Grant it he was now 43, he was a very successful businessman so he claimed, but I later learned that he was actually in the world of entertainment.
Mr Ticker is what I will call him and the game we played was father and son.
I thought Mr TIckler was married or something. I met him late one night while I called ‘Power Chat’ and he had a very dark and masculine voice that had me turned on. He told me that he was 30 and that he wanted to see me immediately, I was not going to see him that same night, however I did plan on seeing him soon.
After I gave him my phone number he called me several times over the course of the next few days. Every time he would call me it was from a private number and I hated this.
One thing I knew was with guys that I had dated I was going to have the upper hand; I refused to allow some guy to run me over or control our relationship like I saw my father do my mother.
Although where I stood with Mr Tickler at this point in time it was only a courtship he needed to know this now. So the night I visited Mr TIcker in his gorgeous condo on the Upper West Side, I knew this man had a pretty coin.
When I arrived inside he greeted me with a pleasant smile and a big bear hug.
Mr Tickler definitely lied about his age, however he was still attractive. We sat down and talked for hours, he really seemed to be into me and I was definitely into him. I noticed that he had an Emmy on his shelf that I thought could not be real, because I knew every black man who had an Emmy or so I thought.
I really just scoped his place out and acted very calm. On our first night I did not lose my virginity; however I learned what if felt like to have a man kiss you and take your breath away… I whispered to him, ‘I’ve never been touched there before’
I could tell by the slight smile on his face that he wanted to be my first. ‘We will take things slow, just let me taste you,’ he requested. I didn’t want to disappoint.
