A 23-year-old man, who accused Kevin Clash, the voice of Sesame Street’s Elmo, of having an in appropriate sexual relationship with him has retracted his statements about the PBS puppeteer.
He did so through his lawyers who sent a statement to Fox News.
“He wants it to be known that his sexual relationship with Mr. Clash was an adult, consensual relationship,” the statement read. “He will have no further comment on the matter.”
Clash has maintained that the relationship was adult consensual and had taken a leave of absence from the show to deal with the accusation.
“I am relieved that this painful allegation has been put to rest,” Clash said in a statement sent to FOX 411. “I will not discuss it further.”
The unidentified man told Sesame Street producers in June that he was 16 when he and Clash, 52, had the relationship seven years ago.
Clash acknowledges that he is gay, but denied the allegations.
In a statement, Sesame Workshop said, “We … Conducted a thorough investigation and found the allegation of underage conduct to be unsubstantiated. . . . Our investigation did reveal that Kevin exercised poor judgment and violated company policy regarding Internet usage and he was disciplined.”
Another statement added: “We are pleased that this matter has been brought to a close, and we are happy that Kevin can move on from this unfortunate episode.”
