The U.S. Court of Appeals has dismissed sex abuse suits against Kevin Clash, the puppeteer best known as the voice of Sesame Street's Elmo.
The appeals court concurred with a previous ruling from July 2013, agreeing with a lower court's decision to dismiss the lawsuits.
In late 2012, three individuals accused 53-year-old Clash of sexually abusing them more than 10 years ago, while they were minors.
After the allegations emerged, the Emmy-winning Sesame Workshop puppeteer — who had voiced the high-pitched, fuzzy red character Elmo for 28 years and been featured in the hit 2011 documentary Being Elmo — resigned from his job.
"I am resigning from Sesame Workshop with a very heavy heart. I have loved every day of my 28 years working for this exceptional organization. Personal matters have diverted attention away from the important work Sesame Street is doing and I cannot allow it to go on any longer," he said at the time.
Clash also denied any wrongdoing and stated that any past relationships he had were between consenting adults.
Last July, a judge in New York ruled that the three claims fell out of the state's statute of limitations. The plaintiffs subsequently brought their cases up to the U.S. Court of Appeals.
The appeal court's decision, made April 2, said the plaintiffs failed to provide any reason why they were unable to discover their injuries prior to 2012. Really?!! Are you serious? They have to have a reason for not discovering their injuries until now? It was 30 years later before I realized that I had been sexually abused as a child, and there is no way I could have explained that when I did.
But surely, US Court of Appeals judges are familiar with repressed memories evident in most child sex abuse cases. Now all of a sudden the victims have to explain why their memories were repressed? I sure hope they take this to the next level, and I sure hope those judges get some awareness training in child sex abuse - it appears they are woefully ignorant.
A separate lawsuit, filed in Pennsylvania by Clash's first public accuser in 2013, is pending.
The appeals court concurred with a previous ruling from July 2013, agreeing with a lower court's decision to dismiss the lawsuits.
In late 2012, three individuals accused 53-year-old Clash of sexually abusing them more than 10 years ago, while they were minors.
"I am resigning from Sesame Workshop with a very heavy heart. I have loved every day of my 28 years working for this exceptional organization. Personal matters have diverted attention away from the important work Sesame Street is doing and I cannot allow it to go on any longer," he said at the time.
Clash also denied any wrongdoing and stated that any past relationships he had were between consenting adults.
Last July, a judge in New York ruled that the three claims fell out of the state's statute of limitations. The plaintiffs subsequently brought their cases up to the U.S. Court of Appeals.
The appeal court's decision, made April 2, said the plaintiffs failed to provide any reason why they were unable to discover their injuries prior to 2012. Really?!! Are you serious? They have to have a reason for not discovering their injuries until now? It was 30 years later before I realized that I had been sexually abused as a child, and there is no way I could have explained that when I did.
But surely, US Court of Appeals judges are familiar with repressed memories evident in most child sex abuse cases. Now all of a sudden the victims have to explain why their memories were repressed? I sure hope they take this to the next level, and I sure hope those judges get some awareness training in child sex abuse - it appears they are woefully ignorant.
A separate lawsuit, filed in Pennsylvania by Clash's first public accuser in 2013, is pending.
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