Puppeteer Kevin Clash is fending off another lawsuit from another man who claims to have had underage sex from the former Sesame Street employee.
The Daily News broke the story on Monday stating that a third man has stepped forward to accuse Clash of sodomy making it the third case in two weeks that the veteran entertainer has to deal with.
Clash, who has since step down from his role at the Sesame Street Workshop, denies the fresh batch of allegations. This time, the accuser now 29, claims he was a 16-year-old aspiring model from New Jersey in 2000, when he met Clash on a gay chat line then visited his Manhattan apartment. The man filed the lawsuit as "John Doe," this according to the Daily News.
Jeff Herman who said earlier in the month said that he had another individual ready to come forward against Clash to go along with Cecil Singleton, the second man who filed claims against the puppeteer.
The lawsuit filed by the third man states. "Kevin Clash gave John (Doe) alcohol and groomed him," claims the lawsuit, adding that the pair "engaged in sexual contact including oral sex." The lawsuit also claims the accuser saw numerous Elmo dolls and photographs of the famous red puppet with celebrities including Beyonce and Tyra Banks according to the Daily News.
"This was John's first sexual experience of this type," says the lawsuit, which is seeking unspecified damages.
Herman said the third man started writing a book in 2009 describing his experience with Clash and the lawyer said he will have pages from the book at the press conference on Tuesday.
The lawyer said Clash took the name of "Craig," while on the gay chat line whilst talking to the latest accuser and said at the time he was just 30. The two chatted for a couple of days and then "Craig" invited the 16-year-old to his apartment.
The lawsuit said Clash called the accuser "incessantly" after their first meeting "to arrange meetings for sexual encounters." The report said the duo held a relationship after the accuser graduated high school and he found out Clash was a famous puppeteer via an Internet search.
According to the Daily News a spokeswoman for the puppeteer said, "Mr. Clash believes this lawsuit has no merit."
