Fourth victim - this one from Miami - accuses Elmo puppeteer Kevin Clash of sexual abuse

• Read the complaint against Elmo puppeteer Kevin Clash

BY STEVE ROTHAUS, srothaus@MiamiHerald.com

A Miami man has become the fourth to accuse Elmo puppeteer Kevin Clash of sex abuse when he was a teenager.

The alleged victim, now 33 and identified in New York court as “S.R.,” met Clash when the puppeteer vacationed in South Florida in 1995 or 1996, said his attorney, Jeff Herman of Aventura.

“He was on South Beach looking for a job when he met Kevin. He was going in and out of stores in South Beach. That’s when Kevin saw him,” Herman told The Miami Herald.

After Clash, now 52, returned home to New York, he stayed in touch with the teen by telephone. Soon, he invited the boy to visit him and bought him a plane ticket.

“He had previously been abused before,” Herman said of the teen.

“He was hesitant to go to New York, but Kevin convinced him he’d be a father figure to him. Kevin used the word ‘dad.’ Once there, it was a sexual thing.”

Four days later, the “homesick” teen returned to South Florida, Herman said.

Clash — the original voice of TV puppet Elmo — resigned from Sesame Street after a second man alleged abuse.

His New York attorney, Michael Berger, has again denied the puppeteer did anything wrong.

“The lawsuit is without merit and we will vigorously defend the case and Mr. Clash’s reputation,” Berger said in a statement Monday.

Herman described the latest accuser, originally from the Caribbean, as “a compliant victim.”

“A compliant victim participates in the sexual contact. They can’t consent because they are too young,” said Herman, who also represents three other alleged Clash victims.

Herman declined to identify the latest alleged victim, who still lives in Miami-Dade County and is seeking unspecified damages in his lawsuit.

Before he met Clash, the teen was sexually abused by a Miami-Dade County schoolteacher, said Herman, who is “evaluating” whether to sue in that case.

“Unfortunately, he’s had a lot of problems I see in other victims,” said Herman, who also represents alleged abuse victims who have sued the Catholic Church and the Boy Scouts.

“He’s had addictions, antisocial behavior including trouble with the law. He’s been arrested for theft. His life was really a mess. Hopefully, this will be a stepping stone for him to take back the power to heal.”

Herman explained why the accuser never before told his story:

“The reason that he’s able to come forward now is that, I believe, there’s this collective empowerment,” Herman said. “They never feel anyone’s going to believe them. When they see other victims coming forward, they think. ‘Maybe they will believe me. Maybe it’s safe to come forward.’”

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Here's the news release Herman's publicist distributed on Monday:

In late 1995 or early 1996, KEVIN CLASH was visiting Miami Beach, Florida.  At the same time, JOHN DOE, age 16 or 17, was in Miami Beach looking for employment. KEVIN CLASH approached JOHN, complimented him on his appearance, and befriended JOHN.

· Following their initial meeting, KEVIN CLASH returned to his home in New York, but remained in frequent contact with JOHN via telephone. During their telephone calls KEVIN CLASH lured JOHN to visit him in New York with promises to pay for his plane ticket, be a “dad” to him in New York, and give him cash and a free place to stay.  KEVIN CLASH’s offer appealed to JOHN who was contemplating running away from home.

· As arranged, JOHN flew from Miami to New York in early 1996 at KEVIN CLASH’s expense.  JOHN stayed for approximately four days in KEVIN CLASH’s apartment. During his stay, KEVIN CLASH and JOHN had sexual contact on multiple occasions.  These sexual acts included KEVIN CLASH penetrating JOHN’s anus with his penis.  KEVIN CLASH told JOHN he had difficulty penetrating JOHN due to a medical condition.  On other occasions, KEVIN CLASH had JOHN perform oral sex on him and put his fingers in JOHN’s anus.

The victim’s attorney, Jeff Herman, said:  “According to our lawsuit, Kevin Clash knowingly paid to transport a minor across state lines for the purpose of satisfying his sexual interests."

College student: I killed mother's boss, went on shopping spree after he made sexual advances

BY ANNA EDGERTON, AEDGERTON@MIAMIHERALD.COM

James Arauz, the Miami Dade College student who stabbed his mother’s employer to death, testified Thursday in the first day of a hearing to determine whether he would be granted Stand Your Ground immunity.

Arauz, who was 20 at the time, stabbed Vincent Pravata to death and went on a shopping spree with his credit cards in Oct. 2009. Investigators later found bloody fingerprints on a glass that led them to Arauz, who confessed to the murder and claimed self-defense.

The defendant’s mother worked as a housekeeper for Pravata for eight years and Arauz helped do yardwork for four months.

After Arauz’s father died from a heart attack in 2008, the 63-year-old Pravata offered to act as a mentor.

Arauz, an engineering student, testified that Pravata, who was openly gay, occasionally made comments about Arauz’s “beautiful eyes” and asked if he’d ever thought about gay sex.

The defendant’s mother said Pravata was unusually excited when Arauz broke up with his girlfriend less than a month before the stabbing.

From the witness stand Thursday, Arauz said he went to Pravata’s South Miami home to pick up the letter of recommendation he had requested for an internship application.

He said Pravata demanded sexual favors in exchange for the letter.

When Arauz rejected Pravata’s advances and tried to leave, he said the older man “went into a rage and tried to pin me against a wall”

After a chase and physical resistance, Arauz grabbed a decorative knife off a filing cabinet and stabbed Pravata 18 times when he tried to prevent him from opening a metal gate outside the house.

“I had already tried flight and it didn’t work, so I was trying to fight,” Arauz said, describing the desperate struggle for the knife. “It was the survival instinct.”

As Arauz was moving the body back into the house, he saw the victim’s wallet in his pocket and took his credit cards and $480 cash.

Arauz was also facing an outstanding shoplifting charge at the time. He was charged with second degree murder and credit card theft.

Judge Yvonne Colodny will hear further testimony on Friday and decide whether to grant the motion for immunity. If she decides that the defense has not provided enough evidence for Stand Your Ground, the case will go to trial before a jury.

Aventura attorney Jeff Herman represents second man who accused Elmo puppeteer of sex abuse

• Elmo actor Kevin Clash resigns amid new underage sex allegation

Aventura attorney Jeff Herman – who represents sex abuse victims against the Roman Catholic Church and the Boy Scouts of America – today announced his newest client: Cecil Singleton, the latest accuser against the voice of Elmo, Kevin Clash.

From Herman's blog:

Lawsuit filed today by attorney Jeff Herman alleges voice of Elmo trolled gay telephone chat line rooms to meet and have sex with underage boys.
 
WHAT: Attorney JEFF HERMAN (www.hermanlaw.com), a nationally-recognized attorney for victims of sexual abuse, announces the filing of a lawsuit against KEVIN CLASH for the sexual abuse of a 15-year-old boy.
 
According to the Complaint:

• When CECIL SINGLETON, the victim in this case, was just fifteen years old, he called a gay chat line seeking friends. In this chat room, KEVIN CLASH, internationally known puppeteer and voice actor for the widely recognized Sesame Street character Elmo, began communicating with CECIL SINGLETON.
• During these telephone calls, KEVIN CLASH persuaded, induced, coerced or enticed CECIL SINGLETON to meet him for sexual encounters.
• KEVIN CLASH groomed CECIL and gained his trust by, among other things, taking him to nice dinners and giving him money.
• On numerous occasions over a period of years, KEVIN CLASH engaged CECIL SINGLETON in sexual activity.  This sexual activity began when CECIL SINGLETON was fifteen years old.
   
  The victim’s attorney, Jeff Herman, said:  “According to our lawsuit, Kevin Clash preyed on vulnerable teenage boys, like Cecil Singleton, to satisfy his depraved sexual interests. By coming forward now, Cecil hopes to spare the lives of others like him and to begin his own healing process."
   
  CECIL SINGLETON v. KEVIN CLASH was filed early Tuesday morning.

Singleton is seeking more than $5 million in damages, according to media reports.

Transgender Day of Remembrance service 7 p.m. Tuesday at Pride Center in Wilton Manors (with videos)

Today is the 14th international Transgender Day of Remembrance (#TDOR), memorializing those who lost their lives due to hate crimes based on their gender identities and expression.

A service will be held 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Pride Center, 2040 N. Dixie Hwy. in Wilton Manors.

Man charged in murder of transgender South Beach prostitute

BY DAVID SMILEY, DSMILEY@MIAMIHERALD.COM

A suspect in the unsolved murder of a Miami prostitute has been charged with brutally stabbing to death a transgender sex worker in her South Beach apartment in March.

Miguel Pavon, previously questioned in the June 2011 bludgeoning of a Miami woman, stabbed Rene “Rosita” Hidalgo Hernandez 23 times in the neck, back, chest and hand in March after sex, according to an arrest warrant. Pavon, 31, has been charged with first degree murder and is being held without bond in the Metro West Detention Center.

Police began investigating Hidalgo’s death on March 15 after friends, worried that she had not answered her phone or let her dogs out of her one-bed, one-bath Michigan Avenue Apartment for more than 24 hours, climbed up to her second-story window and saw blood on the floor, according to an arrest warrant.

Police were called. They found blood throughout the apartment and Hidalgo’s naked body at the foot of her bed, partly covered by a bed sheet and blanket. On the blanket was a bloody imprint of a seven-inch butcher knife determined to be the murder weapon by the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner’s Office. Hidalgo, 54, kept no such knife in her apartment, according to police.

Click here to read more.

Long-held files about abuses in Boy Scouts released; about 30 South Florida cases included

• Database: Search the Boy Scout sexual abuse files

BY CURTIS TATE AND STEVE ROTHAUS, SROTHAUS@MIAMIHERALD.COM

WASHINGTON -- The publication on Thursday of 20 years worth of secret records kept by the Boy Scouts of America reveals a widespread effort by the organization to cover up a scandal involving allegations of sexual abuse against 1,200 Scouts leaders — including more than two dozen in South Florida.

The records, known within the Boy Scouts itself as the “perversion files,” cover the years 1965-1985 and detail the names of the alleged perpetrators, their hometowns and other information, including religion, when it was known.

About 30 of the 70 Florida cases occurred between the early 1960s and mid-1980s in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties, according to documents released Thursday.

Half of those cases occurred in Miami-Dade County, including Miami, Opa-locka, Hialeah, Virginia Gardens and North Miami Beach.

The files were results of the organization’s own internal investigations into sexual abuse among its leaders and include court documents, newspapers clippings in cases where charges were actually filed and other material.

Not every person whose name was contained within the thousands of pages — which the Scouts officially called the “Ineligible Volunteer Files” — ever actually faced charges or was convicted. Some files only reflected concerns about someone.

But they span the nation, involving Boy Scouts organizations and leaders from small towns to bustling cities. Their disclosure also again marks an embarrassing betrayal of public trust by another prominent and respected social institution.

“This is like 2002 for the church’s abuse scandal,” said Miami attorney Jeff Herman, who since 1997 has handled more than 100 abuse cases against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami. “That’s when it all snowballed and so many victims came forward.”

Herman said he currently is working on three South Florida cases involving youths allegedly molested by Scouts leaders.

Click here to read more.

Video | University of Tennessee student denies he is gay or was 'butt chugging' an alcohol enema

ASSOCIATED PRESS

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- The University of Tennessee student cited in police reports as experiencing alcohol poisoning from a wine enema claims the report is false and he is prepared to take legal action.

Alexander Broughton's attorney, Daniel McGehee, announced the potential action at a news conference Tuesday.

The Knoxville News Sentinel reports McGehee said the witness interviewed by police at the emergency room has denied telling officers Broughton was sickened by an alcohol enema.

McGehee also said the UT Police report on the incident was released in violation of federal medical privacy laws.

In a written statement, Broughton said news media reports have implied that he is gay, which he said he is not. He also said that as a Christian he would never desecrate his body with an alcohol enema.

Ukraine gives initial approval to anti-gay bill (with video of 2012 gay-pride parade violence)

ASSOCIATED PRESS

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukrainian lawmakers have given tentative approval to a much-criticized bill that envisions jail time for people who disseminate positive information about gays.

The bill submitted over the summer has caused outrage among Western rights groups and politicians who have called it a flashback to Soviet times, when homosexuality was a criminal offense.

The bill envisages prison terms of up to five years for spreading "propaganda of homosexuality," which is defined as positive public depiction of gays. The bill's authors have cited movies like "Brokeback Mountain" as an example of such propaganda.

Despite the criticism, legislators on Tuesday passed the bill in the first of two required readings. President Viktor Yanukovych has refused to say whether he will sign the bill into law.

Ex-gay porn star Ryan Idol gets 12 years in prison for beating ex-girlfriend

• A look back at Ryan Idol, when he starred in 1998 South Beach production of ‘Making Porn’

From our sister paper, The Sacramento Bee:

More than a year after his conviction, a one-time gay porn star who beat his former girlfriend over the head with a toilet tank lid has been sentenced to 12 years in state prison for attempted murder.

Sacramento Superior Court Judge Troy L. Nunley imposed the term Wedneday on Marc Anthony Donais, 46, who established a reputation in the 1990s as one of the top stars in his genre under the name of Ryan Idol.

According to the victim's testimony at trial, Donais entered the woman's apartment the night of Sept. 5, 2009, and told her, "I came over here to kill you." The two had been involved in a relationship, but the woman -- whose name is being withheld because she is a domestic violence victim -- said she cut it off when she caught him having sex with his male lover.

Click here to read the complete article.

Massachusetts to appeal ruling that granted sex change for convicted murderer Michelle Kosilek

BY STEVE LEBLANC, ASSOCIATED PRESS

BOSTON -- Massachusetts will appeal a federal judge's decision to grant a convicted murderer's request for sex reassignment surgery, prison officials announced Wednesday.

The state Department of Correction said that it believes the medical care Michelle Kosilek is receiving is adequate and that the court didn't address what it says are legitimate safety concerns of protecting her in prison.

U.S. District Judge Mark Wolf ruled this month that the surgery is the only adequate treatment for Kosilek's gender-identity disorder, a condition Wolf said is a "serious medical need." He said denying surgery violated Kosilek's Eighth Amendment rights. It was the first time a judge has ordered prison officials to provide sex-reassignment surgery to an inmate.

Kosilek, now 63, was named Robert when married to Cheryl Kosilek and was convicted of her 1990 murder. Kosilek has received hormone treatments and lives as a woman in an all-male prison.

Click here to read more.