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"Kevin Clash, known as the voice of Elmo on Sesame Street, has taken a leave of absence from the children&amp;apos;s show after underage sex allegations were made against him.\r\nClash, 52, denied the allegations made by a 23-year-old man, who claims they began a sexual relationship seven years ago when the accuser was 16.\r\n\r\n&amp;quot;I had a relationship with [the accuser],&amp;quot; Clash tells TMZ. &amp;quot;It was between two consenting adults and I am deeply saddened that he is trying to make it into something it was not.&amp;quot;&amp;#xA0;\r\n\r\nSesame Workshop issued a statement Monday via The Associated Press, saying, &amp;quot;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.&amp;quot;\r\n\r\nClash, who has been a puppeteer on the show since 1984, was granted a leave of absence at his request to &amp;quot;protect his reputation,&amp;quot; Sesame Workshop explained. &amp;quot;Elmo is bigger than any one person and will continue to be an integral part of &amp;apos;Sesame Street&amp;apos; to engage, educate and inspire children around the world, as it has for 40 years.&amp;quot;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/sesame-streets-elmo-puppeteer-kevin-clash-denies-underage-sex-allegations-20121211>