Kevin Clash and Elmo (Bill Thompson, Wikipedia)

Update: 12/11/12 4:47 p.m. So Kevin Clash has not only lost his job at Sesame Street, facing four underage sexual molestation charges, but now on top of that is being accused of having a limp dick by the latest alleged victim.

The accuser, now a 33-year-old man, ran away from his family in Miami when he was 16 to live with Clash. He revealed in his lawsuit (obtained in part by The New York Post), that "Kevin Clash told [his accuser] he had difficulty...due to a medical condition." It's like this Clash's life cannot get any worse at this point. Except:

"Herman said that because Clash is alleged to have transported his accuser across state lines for the purpose of engaging in sexual activity, he could face criminal charges."

Okay, now it can't get any worse. Right??

Update 11/20/12 4 p.m. Kevin Clash, the voice of Elmo, has resigned from his role on Sesame Street after a second young man stepped forward to accuse the Academy Award-nominated documentary subject of being a sexual predator. 24-year-old Cecil Singleton is asking for $5 million from Mr. Clash, after claiming he met the voice actor on a phone sex line when he was 15. Then he made a pretty large leap in logic, claiming that Clash spent his days at Sesame “preying on teenage boys to satisfy his depraved sexual interests.”

Update 11/13/12 6:20 p.m.: The 23-year-old accuser just recanted his statement. Read below for more details.

Yeah, this is just pretty awful, especially because of all the absolutely terrible, not appropriate jokes and off-color puns that immediately pop into one's head when reading a headline about how the man who played the voice of Elmo for 28 years on Sesame Street left the show over allegations that he molested a little teenage boy. Try not to think about them, okay? It will just make you feel worse.

From TMZ.com:

Kevin Clash -- the man known as the voice of Elmo -- has taken a leave of absence from Sesame Street in the wake of allegations he had a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old boy, TMZ has learned ... allegations Clash adamantly denies.

We've learned ... Sesame Workshop lawyers recently met with a 23-year-old man who claims he and Clash began a sexual relationship 7 years ago ... when he was 16 and Clash was 45.

Clash has acknowledged to TMZ he had a relationship with the young man -- but insists it only took place AFTER the accuser was an adult...

Sources with direct knowledge of the situation tell TMZ ... after the accuser's initial meeting with Sesame Street, the accuser felt Sesame Workshop's lawyers were trying to muzzle him ... so he lawyered up with Andreozzi and Associates -- the firm that represented one of the victims in the Jerry Sandusky child rape case.

So, you know, that's a shitty thing to start your Monday news with. Sorry, folks.

Update: The New York Times learned an hour ago that the young man who accused Mr. Clash of having a sexual relationship with him while he was underage has recanted his previous statement:

Andreozzi & Associates, a law firm that said it represented the accuser said in a statement that “he wants it to be known that his sexual relationship with Mr. Clash was an adult consensual relationship.” The statement added, “He will have no further comment on the matter.”

So maybe the voice of Elmo is just homosexual, and not a child molester. Still, we feel we all lost a lot of innocence in the past two days, and it's yet to be seen whether Mr. Clash will be allowed back on Sesame Street after this scandal.

Sheldon Stephens (The Smoking Gun)

"Stephens agrees that immediately upon execution of this Agreement, his counsel, Andreozzi & Associates, P.C., shall release the [following] statement ... 'He [Stephens] wants it to be known that his sexual relationship with Mr. Clash was an adult consensual relationship.'"

We've learned Stephens has met with lawyers in Los Angeles and told them he was pressured into recanting his allegation and insists he's telling the truth when he says he had sex with Clash when he was 16.

Stephens -- who is now 23 -- is telling lawyers he will gladly forfeit the $125,000 to restore his name. Stephens is saying he was literally crying during the final negotiations and repeatedly said he didn't want to sign.

This probably has nothing to do with the fact that as soon as he backtracked on his original story and his name was leaked to the press, The Smoking Gun discovered that the "aspiring model" had some dirty secrets all his own, including robbing his former employer at knifepoint for $250,000 in jewelry.

Kevin Clash (Getty Images)

"I'm sorry that I keep talking about sex with you, its driving me insane."

"I want you to know that I love you and I will never hurt you. I'm here to protect you and make sure your dreams come true."

"I'll have my assistant book a ticket for you to come to NY and we can talk about this in person."

Mr. Clash released an official statement on the allegations:

"I am a gay man. I have never been ashamed of this or tried to hide it, but felt it was a personal and private matter. I had a relationship with the accuser. It was between two consenting adults and I am deeply saddened that he is trying to characterize it as something other than what it was. I am taking a break from Sesame Workshop to deal with this false and defamatory allegation."

Sesame Street Workshop also issued the following release:

"In June, the workshop heard from a 23-year-old man who claimed that he had "a relationship" with Clash beginning when he was 16 years old, the workshop said in a written statement. "We took the allegation very seriously and took immediate action. We met with the accuser twice and had repeated communications with him. We met with Kevin, who denied the accusation. We also conducted a thorough investigation and found the allegation of underage conduct to be unsubstantiated. Although this was a personal relationship unrelated to the workplace, our investigation did reveal that Kevin exercised poor judgment and violated company policy regarding internet usage and he was disciplined," the Sesame Street Workshop statement said.

"Kevin insists that the allegation of underage conduct is false and defamatory and he is taking actions to protect his reputation. We have granted him a leave of absence to do so.

"Elmo is bigger than any one person and will continue to be an integral part of Sesame Street to engage, educate and inspire children around the world, as it has for 40 years."

A woman, Occupying Wall Street

Ugh, women. Can't they go five minutes without ruining a rally against corporate greed with their claims of inter-protest misogyny, objectification, and rape?

When filmmaker Steven Greenstreet created his Tumblr Hot Chicks of Occupy Wall Street in mid-October, he was attempting to show "the sexy side of protesting." Unsurprisingly, his site was only up for a day before feminist blogs tore into the "creepy voyeur" for what they perceived as a sexist objectification of women - many of whom were photographed apparently without their knowledge or consent.

Mr. Greenstreet addressed these issues five days after his launch, in a October 15th post titled "Why?" His excuse was pretty flimsy, and his argument against detractors boiled down to "Any excuse is a good excuse to bring up the topic of women’s rights." Not a lot of feminists bought the line, yet the site continues to grow in popularity. Because hey, who doesn't like to look at attractive people?

But Mr. Greenstreet's site is only part of the problem for women thinking of joining the Occupy movement. Three days later, a 19-year-old Cleveland woman claimed she was raped at the protests after "camp leaders" directed her to share a tent with a man named Leland. The OWS message boards erupted: the young woman was called a liar, accused of secretly working with the government to make OWS look bad, or at the very least she was asking for it by getting into a tent with a strange man, and other misogynistic excuses. Perhaps the only surprising aspect of the reaction to the alleged assault was that it was Occupiers themselves that were turning against the victim, who they perceived as a threat to their community and tentative relationship with the local authorities.

Of course, not all message board trolls speak for the majority of the OWS movement. Yet the "women issue" continues to be, well, an issue. Ashwini Hardikar wrote a blog post on October 13th titled The Value of a Safe Space: One WOC’s experience with harassment at Occupy Wall Street where she describes being hugged by a male protester, an act she considered intrusive and non-consensual:

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing? You can’t just touch people without their permission. It’s not ok to be in someone’s personal space if you haven’t gotten their consent. I have no idea who you are, you can’t just touch me!” I was yelling, getting louder and louder. I wondered if anyone was listening.

“I was just giving you a hug. I’m not allowed to give people hugs?”

I couldn’t believe he was arguing with me. My heart was racing. All those other times that I had been harassed or groped, and it happened so quickly by a faceless assailant, or when I just felt paralyzed, flashed through my mind. All those times that I didn’t feel like I had a voice. This time, I had found mine somehow.

“No, you are not allowed to touch people if they haven’t asked you to. You’re giving this movement a bad name right now because you are going around and violating others’ space, and it makes people feel unsafe.” My voice sounded clear and very strong, even though I was shaking. Wow, I thought to myself, I know exactly what to say for once!

While some may dismiss Ms. Hardikar's reaction to the gesture as extreme, she speaks to a growing community of women who agree with OWS' message, but who worry that their basic human rights might be getting lost in the shuffle. For that reason, Ms. Hardikar created a Safer Spaces Working Group in the General Assembly. It is described in one sentence: "Working for respect of women, LGBTQ, & POC, Rape victim advocates, queers encouraged to come!" They have created their own female-only sleeping space in a section of Zuccotti Park.

Sarah Seltzer's article for The Nation serves as an antidote to those offended by Mr. Greenstreet's objectifying blog. Her Wednesday post, titled "Where Are the Women at Occupy Wall Street? Everywhere—and They're Not Going Away" described Ms. Hardikar's experience, as well as those of other strong women who continue to protest even when they feel their voices aren't heard as loudly as their male counterparts.

Ms. Seltzer's article quotes a female activist who goes by Ketchup, who has been on the ground at Zuccotti since day one, and whose attention, it's noted, has shifted toward helping create these safe spaces. Yet Ketchup remains optimistic in the face of intra-group misogyny:

“I would just say if you are a woman, please come here! Understand that while there will be misogynists in any group, people with bias in any group, the process here exists here to check that and there is ample support to deal with that.”

Some have argued that women like Ketchup and Ms. Hardikar are detracting from OWS' message to talk about "women issues." But we wouldn't be too worried: as OWS keeps reminding us, they never had a cohesive message to begin with...let alone one that is about to be derailed by women demanding their right to walk freely and Occupy unmolested.

Over the next few days he pursued her, and Gawker's Adrian Chen has the exclusive, detailing Assange's increasingly stalkerish e-pistles.

After Elizabeth politely declined his morning-after missive, she says Assange called her at her parents home. She was creeped out, because he wouldn't say how he got her phone number. 

Assange, meanwhile, seemed to have been feeling Romantic. "When I first wrote the heat of your breast pressed against me was still vivid in my mind." My, my Julian!

Check Out The Super Nerd Brothers Who Accidentally Invited The Whole Internet To Their New Year's Eve Bash!

His letters quickly take on a Nabakovian flair, filled with coy riddles and shifting realities.

The next time Assange called, Elizabeth pretended to be someone else. Assange persisted, writing her an email detailing the call to this alternate world, in which a strange young woman who does not recognize him lives in Elizabeth's house. 

Next a love poem in the form of a puzzle based on the license plate number of Elizabeth's car. Poor Liza isn't bright enough to decipher his number, but she's smart enough to be frightened of this further intrusion into her private life. 

When Elizabeth tells Assange to stop calling, a side of him emerges which is chilling, particularly in the context of the rape and molestation charges he is currently facing in Sweden. 

"A man feels that which is soft, warm and yielding in his arms must also be in other circumstances," he writes her. 

And then, quick as a Wikileak, he's back to his old romantic self, closing with a line worthy of Pale Fire. 

"You pulled a tiny petal off my world, just when I thought you were to add one but all around in the meadow, where I shall again dance and skip and sing till some fool girl should brush my wing."

Be sure to check out the full emails over at Gawker, they are worth it. 

Check out Julian Assange's House Arrest in a 600 Acre British Manor Estate >>