Kevin Clash

Sheldon Stephens, the first man to claim that “Sesame Street” puppeteer Kevin Clash had an underage relationship with him, filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the former voice of Elmo. Stephens is the fourth man to sue the Turners Station native, but in November he was the first to make his allegations public. Clash, 52, has denied all of the allegations. He has said he and Stephens had a relationship after Stephens became an adult. Stephens soon retracted his claim, calling the relationship adult and consensual.

A fifth man has filed a lawsuit against Kevin Clash, the former voice of Elmo on "Sesame Street," making sex abuse allegations similar to those of four other plaintiffs. Kevin Kiadii, now 25, of New York, alleges that he was 16 when he and Clash engaged in sexual contact after meeting on a gay phone chat line. According to the lawsuit, Clash initiated contact with Kiadii on the chat line in 2004, invited him to his New York apartment and sent a luxury car service to pick Kiadii up in Brooklyn.

New York -- He was a shy, serious boy growing up in a poor Baltimore County household where neighborhood kids teased him about staying inside and playing with dolls.They weren't dolls. They were puppets, and he made hundreds of them out of bedroom slippers, the fleece lining of coats and anything else he could find. Made them dance and joke and sing, as he lip-synced to records -- even Barry Manilow records.Kevin Clash discovered it doesn't necessarily take money or other middle-class advantages to spark a talent.

Sheldon Stephens, the first man to claim that “Sesame Street” puppeteer Kevin Clash had an underage relationship with him, filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the former voice of Elmo. Stephens is the fourth man to sue the Turners Station native, but in November he was the first to make his allegations public. Clash, 52, has denied all of the allegations. He has said he and Stephens had a relationship after Stephens became an adult. Stephens soon retracted his claim, calling the relationship adult and consensual.

When Kevin Clash was a boy in Baltimore County, he'd watch TV mere inches from the screen and wish he could walk right into "Sesame Street. " It didn't take him long to get there. At 15, the kid from Turners Station became the regular puppeteer on a WMAR kids show. At 19, he performed as Cookie Monster in the Sesame Street float at the 1979 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and that night met his hero, Muppet creator Jim Henson. "Sesame Street" hired Clash in his early 20s. Before he turned 25, he took a gravel-throated red fur-ball and imbued him with a loving nature, a piping voice and a rapscallion innocence.

A fifth man has filed a lawsuit against Kevin Clash, the former voice of Elmo on "Sesame Street," making sex abuse allegations similar to those of four other plaintiffs. Kevin Kiadii, now 25, of New York, alleges that he was 16 when he and Clash engaged in sexual contact after meeting on a gay phone chat line. According to the lawsuit, Clash initiated contact with Kiadii on the chat line in 2004, invited him to his New York apartment and sent a luxury car service to pick Kiadii up in Brooklyn.

Kevin Clash, the Baltimore-born puppeteer who was the voice behind the beloved "Sesame Street" character Elmo, resigned Tuesday in the wake of allegations that he had sex with minors. Though a man who'd accused Clash last week of having underage sex recanted, Clash released a short statement saying he was leaving the show with sadness after another accuser emerged. "I am resigning from Sesame Workshop with a very heavy heart," he said. "I have loved every day of my 28 years working for this exceptional organization.

A fourth accuser is coming forward to claim he engaged in underage sex with former "Sesame Street" puppeteer Kevin Clash. On Monday, Florida-based attorney Jeff Herman filed his third lawsuit alleging that Clash, now 52, engaged in sex with minors. Herman also has filed suits on behalf of two of the previous three accusers. All three cases allege civil — in other words, noncriminal — violations, and are pending in the Southern District of New York. All three seek unspecified damages.

Thanks go to the many callers who pointed out an error in Accent's story yesterday about Kevin Clash, the puppeteer who does the character of Baby on ABC's "Dinosaurs." Clash is a resident of Catonsville, but he is originally from the other side of town: He's a native of Turner's Station. The Evening Sun regrets the error.HOLLYWOOD IS all about making magic, but on Stage 18 on the MTM Studio lot in Southern California, it is a crazy kind of magic that they make.Behind the door that says "Closed Set: Authorized Personnel Only," past all the cables and wires and chairs and antennas, up there under the bright lights, the prehistoric, postmodern creatures that populate ABC's "Dinosaurs" come to their own peculiar form of telegenic life.

Who would have figured that playing around with a bit of fleece would have meant so very much?For Baltimore native Kevin Clash, it has meant being able to travel around the globe, to places from Johannesburg, South Africa, to Shanghai, China.Clash is the brains, voice and movement behind "Sesame Street's" popular Elmo character. He began his love affair with puppetry as a 10-year-old while living in Baltimore County's Turner's Station. He used the fleece lining from his mother's coat to make a monkey puppet.

A fourth accuser is coming forward to claim he engaged in underage sex with former "Sesame Street" puppeteer Kevin Clash. On Monday, Florida-based attorney Jeff Herman filed his third lawsuit alleging that Clash, now 52, engaged in sex with minors. Herman also has filed suits on behalf of two of the previous three accusers. All three cases allege civil — in other words, noncriminal — violations, and are pending in the Southern District of New York. All three seek unspecified damages.

Kevin Clash, the Baltimore-born puppeteer who was the voice behind the beloved "Sesame Street" character Elmo, resigned Tuesday in the wake of allegations that he had sex with minors. Though a man who'd accused Clash last week of having underage sex recanted, Clash released a short statement saying he was leaving the show with sadness after another accuser emerged. "I am resigning from Sesame Workshop with a very heavy heart," he said. "I have loved every day of my 28 years working for this exceptional organization.

A claim that "Sesame Street" puppeteer Kevin Clash had sex with a minor has been withdrawn. The 23-year-old man who had said he was 16 when he began a romantic relationship with Clash - the voice of Elmo - recanted Tuesday through his attorney. The brief statement from the Harrisburg, Pa., law firm of Andreozzi & Associates reads in its entirety: "This office represented the 23-year-old man who was the subject of many media reports regarding Kevin Clash. He wants it to be known that his sexual relationship with Mr. Clash was an adult consensual relationship.

When Kevin Clash was a boy in Baltimore County, he'd watch TV mere inches from the screen and wish he could walk right into "Sesame Street. " It didn't take him long to get there. At 15, the kid from Turners Station became the regular puppeteer on a WMAR kids show. At 19, he performed as Cookie Monster in the Sesame Street float at the 1979 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and that night met his hero, Muppet creator Jim Henson. "Sesame Street" hired Clash in his early 20s. Before he turned 25, he took a gravel-throated red fur-ball and imbued him with a loving nature, a piping voice and a rapscallion innocence.

After a quick countdown led by Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, 28 strands of LED lights — 16,000 bulbs — lit up the Washington Monument in Mount Vernon on Thursday for the 39th annual lighting ceremony. As the colored strands illuminated, the crowd cheered. Fireworks and green laser lights lit up the night sky while people, bundled in winter coats and hats, watched. "It's a real city event. People come from all parts of the city for this," said Mike Evitts with the Downtown Partnership, which organizes the event with the city and other sponsors, including BGE, which donated the bulbs.