Elmo puppeteer, Kevin Clash, gave boy alcohol before sex acts, new lawsuit

Disgraced Kevin Clash, who was the voice of Elmo on "Sesame Street", allegedly plied a 16-year-old with alcohol before performing sex acts in his New York apartment which was filled with Elmo dolls, a lawsuit alleges.

The suit was filed in Manhattan Federal Court today by a third accuser, a man now aged 29 who was an aspiring model from New Jersey in 2000 when he met Clash on a gay chat line, the New York Daily News reported. 

The man's attorney, Jeff Herman, told a press conference Tuesday his client, known as "John Doe", was invited to the puppeteer's apartment in Manhattan. 

"Kevin Clash gave John (Doe) alcohol and groomed him," the lawsuit, which is claiming unspecified damages, alleges.

It states the pair "engaged in sexual contact including oral sex.”

He said his client saw numerous Elmo dolls and photographs of the Sesame Street puppet with celebrities including Beyonce.

"This was John's first sexual experience of this type," says the lawsuit.

A spokeswoman for the puppeteer said “Mr. Clash believes this lawsuit has no merit.”

The Daily Mail reported the third accuser has written a manuscript of the events, in which he writes: "Mr Tickler is what I will call him and the game we played was father and son. 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."

The man said it was not until he was 18 that he did an internet search and discovered that Clash was the voice of Elmo.

Herman also represents alleged victim, Cecil Singleton, whose claims against Clash, 52, led him to resign from “Sesame Street”, the New York Post reported.

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