FILE - This Jan. 24, 2011 file photo shows Elmo and puppeteer Kevin Clash of the film "Being Elmo" poses for a portrait in the Fender Music Lodge during the 2011 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. Clash who was the puppeteer and voice of Elmo on “Sesame Street” is being sued for the fifth time, accused of sexually abusing an underage youth. In a federal lawsuit filed in New York on Tuesday, April 2, 2013, 25-year-old Kevin Kiadii says he was 16 when he met Kevin Clash during an online chat. (AP Photo/Victoria Will, File)
April 02, 2013 - 2:12 PM
NEW YORK, N.Y. - A puppeteer who was the voice of Elmo on "Sesame Street" is being sued for the fifth time, accused of sexually abusing a teenage boy.
In a federal lawsuit filed in New York on Tuesday, 25-year-old Kevin Kiadii says he was 16 when he met Kevin Clash in an online chat.
Kiadii attorney Jeff Herman says Clash sent a limousine to pick up the teen in Brooklyn and take him to his Manhattan apartment for sex.
Herman represents four other people who filed similar lawsuits. He acknowledges his clients were compliant but says the 52-year-old puppeteer took advantage of them by playing father to them.
Clash resigned from "Sesame Street" in November. He has denied any wrongdoing. His lawyer hasn't responded to a call for comment on the latest lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages.
News from © The Associated Press, 2013