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Elmo Sex Accuser Attacked In Apparent Prospect Park Hate Crime
By
Ben Yakas
Published Jun 1, 2013
Modified Jun 1, 2013
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Jun 1, 2013
Modified Jun 1, 2013
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One of the men who accused Elmo puppeteer Kevin Clash of underage sex abuse last year was attacked in Brooklyn this week in what police say was the latest hate crime against a gay person. Kevin Kiadii, 25, was punched and kicked by five men who shouted anti-gay slurs at him and a friend in Prospect Park on Wednesday. “I’ll kill you, faggot,” one of the men said, according to Kiadii.
Kiadii, a professional makeup artist, said one of the men have him a "straight sucker punch" to the face. He grabbed a bottle of perfume from his bag and used it like pepper spray on the man who punched him. “If it wasn’t for my Dior bottle, I’d be in so much damage,” he told The Post.
In the attack, Kiadii injured his finger, arm and face, and bruised his shoulders and ribs. Police caught the five suspects—the five men, who range in age from 16 to 21, were all charged with gang assault as a hate crime. There has been a rash of hate crimes against gay people in recent weeks, with most of the those attacks taking place in Manhattan.
Kiadii was the fifth person to come forward last year to accuse Clash of underage sex abuse. He claimed that Clash “trolled gay telephone chat-line rooms to meet and have sex with underage boys.”
Tagged
attack
brooklyn
elmo
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hate crime
Kevin Kiadii
prospect park
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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