# Shouldn't have tickled him, Elmo \[Sesame Street puppeteer resigns after sex allegations\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 12, 2012, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shouldnt-have-tickled-him-elmo-sesame-street-puppeteer-resigns-after-sex-allegations/640798 "2012-11-12T17:29:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shouldnt-have-tickled-him-elmo-sesame-street-puppeteer-resigns-after-sex-allegations/640798/1 "2012-11-12T17:29:27Z")
Kevin Clash, the voice of giggly red Muppet Elmo, has been [accused of having sex](http://www.seattlepi.com/entertainment/tv/tvguide/article/Kevin-Clash-Voice-of-Sesame-Street-s-Elmo-On-4029718.php)with an underaged (16.y.o.) teenager by the now-23-year-old man. Clash, who is 52, is denying the underaged sex claim but is on a “leave of absence” to deal with the issue. Say it ain’t so, Elmo… ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shouldnt-have-tickled-him-elmo-sesame-street-puppeteer-resigns-after-sex-allegations/640798/2 "2012-11-12T19:12:16Z")
Fisting joke. ---
**Author:** ![Sateryn76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Sateryn76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sateryn76)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shouldnt-have-tickled-him-elmo-sesame-street-puppeteer-resigns-after-sex-allegations/640798/3 "2012-11-12T22:00:12Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > Fisting joke. I just that after, like, 2 hours. Well played. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shouldnt-have-tickled-him-elmo-sesame-street-puppeteer-resigns-after-sex-allegations/640798/4 "2012-11-12T22:08:27Z")
_golf clap_ Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shouldnt-have-tickled-him-elmo-sesame-street-puppeteer-resigns-after-sex-allegations/640798/5 "2012-11-12T22:22:12Z")
\*“Let’s ask Mr. Noodle!” \* ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shouldnt-have-tickled-him-elmo-sesame-street-puppeteer-resigns-after-sex-allegations/640798/6 "2012-11-12T22:24:26Z")
Just in time for Christmas, the new Molest Me Elmo doll. ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shouldnt-have-tickled-him-elmo-sesame-street-puppeteer-resigns-after-sex-allegations/640798/7 "2012-11-12T22:36:30Z")
Between this and the “Jimmy Savile \*looked \*like a paedo” thread, I am going to hell for laughing so much. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shouldnt-have-tickled-him-elmo-sesame-street-puppeteer-resigns-after-sex-allegations/640798/8 "2012-11-12T23:15:01Z")
And I still wouldn’t be at all surprised if Mr Rogers ended up with some form of report about being a paedo as well. He always struck me as absolutely smarmy. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shouldnt-have-tickled-him-elmo-sesame-street-puppeteer-resigns-after-sex-allegations/640798/9 "2012-11-12T23:32:00Z")
Can’t wait for Jimmy Fallon’s next Capital One commercial. Sex with minors, how do YOU feel about it? Let’s ask the baby! Baby: WWAAAAHHHHHHHHH ---
**Author:** ![Noelq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noelq/32/16438_2.png) [@Noelq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noelq)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shouldnt-have-tickled-him-elmo-sesame-street-puppeteer-resigns-after-sex-allegations/640798/10 "2012-11-12T23:33:09Z")
I sure hope it isn’t true. I’ve had great esteem for the man since watching his documentary, and I’d hate to see him fall so low. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2012, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shouldnt-have-tickled-him-elmo-sesame-street-puppeteer-resigns-after-sex-allegations/640798/11 "2012-11-13T01:24:23Z")
Clash, who is openly gay, has apparently said that he did have a sexual relationship with his accuser. But he’s said it did not occur when he was underage. So this is apparently going to end up being an issue of whether it was a 45-year-old seducing a 16-year-old or a 47-year-old seducing an 18-year-old and what the statutory rape laws were where the sex occurred. So even best-case scenario, it’s going to end up being pretty sordid. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2012, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shouldnt-have-tickled-him-elmo-sesame-street-puppeteer-resigns-after-sex-allegations/640798/12 "2012-11-13T01:29:50Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > And I still wouldn’t be at all surprised if Mr Rogers ended up with some form of report about being a paedo as well. He always struck me as absolutely smarmy. Nearly a decade in his grave without allegations isn’t enough time for you to mark him off as ‘probably not a paedo’? ☹ Edit: I can think of quite a few people who I find smarmy as fuck but I wouldn’t think they’re child molesters. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2012, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shouldnt-have-tickled-him-elmo-sesame-street-puppeteer-resigns-after-sex-allegations/640798/13 "2012-11-13T01:30:50Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > And I still wouldn’t be at all surprised if Mr Rogers ended up with some form of report about being a paedo as well. He always struck me as absolutely smarmy. Have a care, sirrah, you are speaking of the man I love. :mad: Anyway, Mr. Rogers has been dead for nearly ten years now, so if any traumatized abuse victims are burning to expose his atrocities, they’re being awfully patient about it. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Hen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Small\_Hen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Hen)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2012, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shouldnt-have-tickled-him-elmo-sesame-street-puppeteer-resigns-after-sex-allegations/640798/14 "2012-11-13T01:37:40Z")
> [@Battle\_Pope](#): > > \*“Let’s ask Mr. Noodle!” \* “NO Mr. Noodle, not like that, Mr Noodle!” ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2012, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shouldnt-have-tickled-him-elmo-sesame-street-puppeteer-resigns-after-sex-allegations/640798/15 "2012-11-13T01:53:07Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Clash, who is openly gay, has apparently said that he did have a sexual relationship with his accuser. But he’s said it did not occur when he was underage. Where did he say this? ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2012, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shouldnt-have-tickled-him-elmo-sesame-street-puppeteer-resigns-after-sex-allegations/640798/16 "2012-11-13T02:29:52Z")
_“Elmo like little boys!”_ It’s hard not to laugh about this, but I also respect the guy and hope it goes away quickly. Given the facts I’ve read so far he’s not even remotely a child molester. > [@aruvqan](#): > > And I still wouldn’t be at all surprised if Mr Rogers ended up with some form of report about being a paedo as well. He always struck me as absolutely smarmy. Don’t hold your breath. Although the site itself hasn’t been updated in like a year, even [Rotten.com had absolutely nothing bad to say about him.](http://www.rotten.com/library/bio/misc/fred-rogers/) To quote from the beginning of the article: \*\*\*“His offscreen lifestyle was identical to that of his television persona: a reassuring adult who was not only happy to sit and talk, but one who managed to live out his entire life without the slightest whisper of scandal – unless you count one the time he nearly missed a hole while buttoning up his cardigan.” * * * I’ve read interviews with a lot of people who worked with him behind the scenes and when asked, “What’s he really like”, without exception every single person has said precisely the same thing, namely that he was \*\*exactly \*\*the same off-camera as he was on. It was not an act in any way, shape or form. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2012, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shouldnt-have-tickled-him-elmo-sesame-street-puppeteer-resigns-after-sex-allegations/640798/17 "2012-11-13T02:38:48Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > …So this is apparently going to end up being an issue of whether it was a 45-year-old seducing a 16-year-old or a 47-year-old seducing an 18-year-old and what the statutory rape laws were where the sex occurred. So even best-case scenario, it’s going to end up being pretty sordid. Or a 46 yr old having sex with a 17 yr old. The age of consent in NYS is 17. ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2012, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shouldnt-have-tickled-him-elmo-sesame-street-puppeteer-resigns-after-sex-allegations/640798/18 "2012-11-13T02:49:33Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Where did he say this? [http://www.theroot.com/buzz/man-behind-elmo-denies-sex-allegations](http://www.theroot.com/buzz/man-behind-elmo-denies-sex-allegations) > **[UPDATE: Underage Sex Claims Against Voice of Elmo Recanted](https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2012/11/elmo-sex-scandal-kevin-clash-absent-from-sesame-street-over-sex-allegations-involving-16-year-old-boy.html)** > > Update, Nov. 13, 5:15 p.m.: Clash's accuser has recanted his allegations, saying the two shared an "adult consensual relationship." Clash added in a... ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2012, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shouldnt-have-tickled-him-elmo-sesame-street-puppeteer-resigns-after-sex-allegations/640798/19 "2012-11-13T02:50:31Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > And I still wouldn’t be at all surprised if Mr Rogers ended up with some form of report about being a paedo as well. He always struck me as absolutely smarmy. You’ve been taken to task well enough for posting this garbage, but you ought to be ashamed of yourself for slandering a wonderful person like Fred Rogers. What a low, disgusting thing to do. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2012, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shouldnt-have-tickled-him-elmo-sesame-street-puppeteer-resigns-after-sex-allegations/640798/20 "2012-11-13T03:02:27Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > And I still wouldn’t be at all surprised if Mr Rogers ended up with some form of report about being a paedo as well. He always struck me as absolutely smarmy. There’s never been a peep about the man, and he lived in my town. https://www.youtube.com/embed/yXEuEUQIP3Q?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque He visited me in the hospital as a child, and much to your surprise, did not molest me. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shouldnt-have-tickled-him-elmo-sesame-street-puppeteer-resigns-after-sex-allegations/640798.md?page=2)