Richard Termine Kevin Clash, on the set of “Sesame Street,” with the character Elmo.

2:38 p.m. | Updated Kevin Clash, the voice and puppeteer of Elmo on “Sesame Street,” has taken a leave of absence after an unsubstantiated claim that he had a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old boy.

Mr. Clash said the relationship started after the person, now 23 years old, was over the age of 18. Mr. Clash told TMZ, which reported the accusation early Monday morning, that the relationship was “between two consenting adults” and he added, “I am deeply saddened that he is trying to make it into something it was not.”

Mr. Clash elaborated in a statement later on Monday. “I am a gay man,” he said. “I have never been ashamed of this or tried to hide it, but felt it was a personal and private matter. I had a relationship with the accuser. It was between two consenting adults and I am deeply saddened that he is trying to characterize it as something other than what it was. I am taking a break from Sesame Workshop to deal with this false and defamatory allegation.”

Mr. Clash’s leave of absence from “Sesame Street” started on Sunday, once it was clear that the accusations were going to become public, according to an executive at Sesame Workshop, which produces the show, who insisted on anonymity because the organization was not commenting officially beyond its written statement.

“Kevin insists that the allegation of underage conduct is false and defamatory and he is taking actions to protect his reputation,” Sesame Workshop said in a statement. “We have granted him a leave of absence to do so.”

No charges have been filed against Mr. Clash.

Sesame Workshop said it received a communication about the relationship from the 23-year-old in June.

“We took the allegation very seriously and took immediate action,” the organization said. “We met with the accuser twice and had repeated communications with him. We met with Kevin, who denied the accusation. We also conducted a thorough investigation and found the allegation of underage conduct to be unsubstantiated.”

The organization said Mr. Clash had “exercised poor judgment and violated company policy regarding Internet usage,” and was disciplined accordingly.

The Sesame Workshop executive said three outside firms had investigated the matter on behalf of the various parties involved and the organization conducted its own internal investigation. As recently as Nov. 7, the accuser’s attorney indicated to the Sesame Workshop that he did not have any proof that his client was underage at the time of the relationship, according to the executive at the organization.

Mr. Clash has been helping to identify other puppeteers who can play Elmo, and some of them will now fill in for him, according to the Sesame Workshop executive, who said that production of “Sesame Street” would go forward as planned.

Mr. Clash, 52, was the star of the 2011 documentary “Being Elmo.” He has played Elmo for more than two decades.

Article source: http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/12/elmo-puppeteer-accused-of-underage-relationship/?partner=rss&emc=rss