Three men who claim that former Elmo puppeteer Kevin Clash sexually abused them as children have had their lawsuits dismissed after a judge said that they waited too long to file their suits.
Clash, who won multiple Emmys for his work on Sesame Street just months ago, was sued by the three plaintiffs last fall, which resulted in him eventually being let go by Sesame Workshop. He resigned in November and the producers of the show let him go as the allegations continued to pile up.
According to The New York Times, the suit from a John Doe claimed that he was abused by Clash back in 1996 in Clash’s New York apartment. Then, Cecil Singleton’s lawsuit alleged that he was 15 when his relationship with Clash began in 2003.
In April, Kevin Kiadii claimed that he had sex with Clash in 2005 when he was 16.
However, all these lawsuits have now been dismissed by a Manhattan judge. The New York Post reports that Manhattan federal Judge John Koeltl told the men who are now in their 20s that they just waited far too long. They had to take legal action within “six years after the cause of action accrues, or three years after the plaintiff turns 21, which ever is longer.”
Singleton was the most vocal of the accusers, explaining, “Until I knew Kevin had a fetish for underage men, it never occurred to me that I was a victim. I thought our relationship was something different. I thought he saw me as something special.”
Clash’s lawyer did not release a statement.