Elmo puppeteer Kevin Clash has resigned from Sesame Street amid controversy about sex allegations against him.

A 23-year-old man had accused Clash of having a sexual relationship with him when he was 16 years old, but last week the man released a statement via his lawyer recanting the allegations and stating via his attorney that the affair was “an adult consensual relationship.”

The Associated Press reports that as Sesame Street was announcing Clash's resignation today, a civil lawsuit was being filed in New York in federal court accusing Clash of the sexual abuse of a second youth. The lawsuit alleges that another man, now an adult, was persuaded when he was 15 years old by Clash to meet for sexual encounters.

Sesame Street said today that the controversy had become a "distraction" from Clash's job as the voice of Elmo, a position he's held for 28 years. Clash had announced last week that he was taking a leave of absence in the wake of the sex allegations.

“Unfortunately, the controversy surrounding Kevin's personal life has become a distraction that none of us wants, and he has concluded that he can no longer be effective in his job and has resigned from Sesame Street,” Sesame Workshop, the non-profit organization behind Sesame Street said in a statement Tuesday.