ELMO NOT GO TO JAIL
Accusers waited too long for charges
“Nothing’s going to bring us down!” the recorded voice of accused pedophile Kevin Clash sang for an Elmo puppet at the Macy’s parade yesterday — and Clash could have been referring his own legal outlook.
Both of Clash’s accusers— criminal psychology student Cecil Singleton and aspiring model Sheldon Stephens — came forward too late for their allegations to be prosecuted, according to state law.
The same goes for two unnamed accusers who are reaching out to authorities, according to sources familiar with their allegations.
That’s four potential statutory sex-charge bullets dodged by the Elmo puppeteer.
“The police told me it was out of their hands,” Singleton told The Post of meeting with Special Victims Unit cops this week.
“They said if it were up to them, they would have arrested him already,” if it weren’t for the statute of limitations, he added.
Both Singleton, of Harlem, and Stephens, of Harrisburg, Pa., are 24 years old, and missed the prosecution deadlines by a couple of months, although officials could potentially still use their accounts for sentencing purposes if there is a future prosecution.
Under state law, child sex-assault victims have from age 18 to age 23 to bring their cases; past that, prosecution is barred by a statute of limitations.
“I think he deserves to go to prison,” said Singleton, who says he was in his midteens when he met Clash on a gay-chat site.
Singleton has filed a $5 million federal lawsuit against Clash, but said yesterday that all he really wants is for Clash to apologize publicly to his victims and promise to never work around minors again.
“That was his primary motivation in coming forward,” said his lawyer, Jeff Herman. “To expose a truth, protect kids, and pave the way for other victims in this case and in general to come forward.”
Clash’s recordings as the voice of Elmo will linger through 2014, “Sesame Street” reps say, including the voice-over for yesterday’s parade song, “What I Am,” with a bevy of other “Sesame Street” characters.