Elmo Puppeteer Kevin Clash Takes Leave of Absence from 'Sesame Street,' Denies Allegations

There's really no point in having heroes anymore, is there? Over the past year, we've watched Joe Paterno, Lance Armstrong and David Petraeus fall from the pedestals society had placed them on, and now it looks like we may lose another hero. Kevin Clash, the puppeteer behind Sesame Street's Elmo and the star of the awesome documentary Being Elmo, has taken a leave of absence from Sesame Street after being accused of having a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old boy. From Sesame Workshop:

In June of this year, Sesame Workshop received a communication from a then 23 year old man who alleged that he had a relationship beginning when he was 16 years old with Kevin Clash, a Sesame Workshop puppeteer who performs as Elmo. 

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. 

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.

Well, this sucks. I really hope the allegations aren't true, since Clash's life, as documented in Being Elmo, is such a great story and the work that he's done at Sesame Street has improved the lives of countless kids as they grew up.