The man who accused Elmo puppeteer Kevin Clash of having a relationship with him when he was a minor, and who recanted his story shortly thereafter, has now been identified. According to the Smoking Gun, he's 24-year-old Sheldon Stephens.
It's still unclear what made him mischaracterize what he ultimately said was an "adult consensual relationship" (a friend's explanation that it was a "simple misunderstanding" doesn't quite do it — did he misunderstand his own age?), but reports now paint a picture of who he is: an entrepreneur, student, model and actor (per his Twitter profile), and a guy who has had some of his own run-ins with the law. From E! News:
So who is this guy?
Stephens lives in Harrisburg, Pa., and describes himself on his Twitter account as an "Entrepreneur, Student, Model, Actor."
According to court records obtained by TSG, Stephens also has a criminal record, having been arrested numerous times since 2009, including once for passing a bad check and again for reckless driving.
The most serious charge came in September 2009 for allegedly robbing his former boss, Beverly Hills music manager Darian Pollard, of $250,000 worth of jewelry at knife point before taking a flight from L.A. to Pennsylvania.
While no knife was found in his luggage when police caught up with him, Stephens was taken into custody on two felony counts of receiving stolen property. The charges in Harrisburg, however, were subsequently dismissed two weeks later, and no charges were filed …
Read more at E! News.
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