Elmo Puppeteer Escapes Charges, Lawsuit News: Kevin Clash Dismissed in Sexual Abuse Scandal
The puppeteer behind Elmo Puppeteer escaped all three sexual abuse lawsuits on Monday due to statute of limitations.
After 28 years, Kevin Clash left his role of Elmo from Sesame Workshop last November when rumors surfaced involving sexual conduct with underage boys. A ruling on Monday determined by a New York judge stated that the claims against Clash were filed too late and all three lawsuits were dropped.
Clash's attorneys moved to have the lawsuits dismissed as outside the statute of limitations under 18 U.S.C. § 2255(b), which provides that a lawsuit has to be filed within six years of the event or three years after a plaintiff turns 21.
"Congress provided an exception to the six year prohibition for plaintiffs under a legal disability and provided that such minors would have an additional three years to bring a claim after they turned eighteen," U.S. District Judge John Koeltl said. "This exception, combined with Congress's failure to adopt a discovery rule in the face of statutes with explicit discovery rules and state sexual abuse statutes... indicate that Congress did not provide for a discovery rule under Section 2255, and none should be implied."
Jeff Herman, who is representing all three plaintiffs, told E! News he doesn't think the motion to "avoid liability on technical grounds" will be successful. He noted the fact that the Monday ruling did support the claim that the abuse never happened, it only stated that it is too late to file complaints. He recognized the fact that the victims have the right under law to bring their lawsuits to court within six years from the time they attribute their injuries to the alleged abuse.
"We are hopeful the Court will see it our way, however," he added, "by being able to bring their claims forth publicly the victims are already further along in the healing process."
The 52-year-old voice actor's ruling could be appealed but currently Clash is free from those claims. Two weeks ago he was awarded three Daytime Emmy Awards for his work on Sesame Street.
