BREAKING: Long time Elmo puppeteer, Kevin Clash, resigns from “Sesame Street” after a second accuser has come forward. This also comes as Sheldon Stephens, the young man he reportedly had a sexual relationship with, now says he wants to undo his recantation of their encounter occurring when he was underage. Kevin Clash had paid him $125,000 to settle the matter and to say the encounter occurred when he was an adult.

TMZ reports, Cecil Singleton, who is now in his 30s, claims he and Kevin Clash had a sexual relationship when he was 15-years-old. In his lawsuit he alleges “[Kevin] Clash trolled gay telephone chat line rooms to meet and have sex with underage boys… preying on teenage boys to satisfy his depraved sexual interests.” According to the AP, Clash has now resigned from Sesame Street, calling the recent allegations “a distraction.”

Here’s more information on the second lawsuit from Gothamist:

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in New York City, claims Clash “groomed [the accuser] to gain his trust by, among other things, taking him to nice dinners and giving him money.” Singleton claims he waited until now because he “did not become aware that he had suffered adverse psychological and emotional effects from Kevin Clash’s sexual acts and conduct until 2012.” He’s asking for over $5 million.

Wow, this is troubling, very troubling. How many more young boys did he allegedly target? I cannot look at Elmo the same way again.

This was cross-posted from The Hinterland Gazette.