Kevin "Elmo" Clash Resigns

[not_nadine]

after second allegation of abuse.

http://news.yahoo.com/elmo-actor-kev...162603932.html

[hipmamajen]

While having sex with underage kids is completely vile and inappropriate, it does make me feel better that the kids he was with weren't the target "Elmo" demographic. Like, at least he wasn't picking using his Elmo persona to pick them up. It sounds like one of them didn't even know that's who he was.

It would double gross me out if he was using Elmo to trick them into going with him.

[GNTLGNT]

....while I am no fan of Elmo, it breaks my heart that a character that is so captivating to so many young hearts was drug into such a malodorous crime....

[Sundrop]

Pedofilia is never okay.......not ever

[Todash]

Pedofilia is never okay.......not ever

1. No, it's not, but ... a couple of things. Having sex with a 15yo does not typically have the same gravity as having sex with a seven-year-old. The age of consent is not magical. Teenagers consent to sex all the time. Do they fully understand the consequences? Not always, but then from what I see around me, neither do a lot of adults. I wish there were a sliding scale of sexual predatorship that we could agree to.
2. Assuming what these young men are claiming is true, they voluntarily sought out sexual activity (gay chat lines), or at least social connectivity centered around sex. That makes these relationships quite different, in my mind, from ones where the victims are unwilling participants.
3. It's awfully suspicious that the second young man only realized he was "damaged" after figuring out who Clash was, and the first one, who got a settlement, now wants to recant his recantation. It's also kinda hinky not that they want to sue, because abuse does cause real damage with real monetary impact, but that suing was the first approach, rather than pursuing criminal action.
4. An accusation is not proof of anything. If he did the crime, then he should do the time, but it's a shame that all you have to do to ruin someone's career is make a claim of sexual abuse.

[Sundrop]

1. No, it's not, but ... a couple of things. Having sex with a 15yo does not typically have the same gravity as having sex with a seven-year-old. The age of consent is not magical. Teenagers consent to sex all the time. Do they fully understand the consequences? Not always, but then from what I see around me, neither do a lot of adults. I wish there were a sliding scale of sexual predatorship that we could agree to.
2. Assuming what these young men are claiming is true, they voluntarily sought out sexual activity (gay chat lines), or at least social connectivity centered around sex. That makes these relationships quite different, in my mind, from ones where the victims are unwilling participants.
3. It's awfully suspicious that the second young man only realized he was "damaged" after figuring out who Clash was, and the first one, who got a settlement, now wants to recant his recantation. It's also kinda hinky not that they want to sue, because abuse does cause real damage with real monetary impact, but that suing was the first approach, rather than pursuing criminal action.
4. An accusation is not proof of anything. If he did the crime, then he should do the time, but it's a shame that all you have to do to ruin someone's career is make a claim of sexual abuse.

I completely agree with you about this particular case. The two young men in question seem to have at the least sought out an encounter. It also bothers me that neither of them were "damaged" until they realized who their partner actually was, and that he probably has money. Even though the accused was an adult, and should have sought to fulfil his "needs" with another consenting adult, I have serious doubts about the credibility of the two accusers in this case.

I understand what you're saying about teenagers consenting to sex. However, it still doesn't make it okay for a supposedly grown up man or woman of 25 or 30 to have sex with a teenager. My problem with it is and will always be that a 15 year old consenting to sex with 30 year old is not the same as a couple of teenagers consenting to have sex. If it ever happens with my child, heads will roll. Bet on it.

[Todash]

I understand what you're saying about teenagers consenting to sex. However, it still doesn't make it okay for a supposedly grown up man or woman of 25 or 30 to have sex with a teenager. My problem with it is and will always be that a 15 year old consenting to sex with 30 year old is not the same as a couple of teenagers consenting to have sex. If it ever happens with my child, heads will roll. Bet on it.

Oh, at the very least a relationship between a 30yo and a 15yo is very, VERY squicky. There's often a power imbalance going on there, if nothing worse. It's just typically not nearly as damaging as actual child abuse. I've known some people who had that kind of relationship with an older person as an older teen or much younger adult. But that's how they tend to view it later on, I think: as a relationship they had at one point that was perhaps not healthy but that they did participate in willingly and from which they gained some benefit.

[AnnaMarie]

4. An accusation is not proof of anything. If he did the crime, then he should do the time, but it's a shame that all you have to do to ruin someone's career is make a claim of sexual abuse.

And the accusation will NEVER go away. Even if recanted. Legally, a person must be proven guilty. But, publicly, even if he is proven innocent (which is darn near impossible to PROVE) his career is over. There will always be some people that will say it's a cover-up.

[fredthe3rd]

Has Jimmy Saville made the news in the states?

[Moderator]

Has Jimmy Saville made the news in the states?

Oh, yeah!