Man videotaped slapping reporter's rear on live TV charged

[demmiblue]

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — A Georgia man who was videotaped slapping a female reporter’s rear on live TV was arrested Friday on a misdemeanor charge of sexual battery.

Savannah police spokeswoman Bianca Johnson in Savannah confirmed that Thomas Callaway, 43, of Statesboro was charged in connection with the incident that occurred while WSAV-TV reporter Alex Bozarjian was broadcasting live as runners streamed past her on a prominent bridge in the coastal city.

“The conduct displayed toward Alex Bozarjian during her live coverage of Saturday’s Savannah Bridge Run was reprehensible and completely unacceptable,” the Savannah television station said in a statement Friday evening. “No one should ever be disrespected in this manner. The safety and protection of our employees is WSAV-TV’s highest priority.”

Jail records showed Callaway was booked Friday afternoon. His attorney, Joseph Turner, declined to comment in an email late Friday to The Associated Press.

https://apnews.com/5ec02755b5876a9b0f07061062fc07fa

[KG]

1. most people just behave anyway, but for the rest, better start living like youre on camera

24/7

[volstork]

29. Because

you likely are...

[hlthe2b]

2. Good. K&R

What a self-entitled misogynistic, lying SOB.

[aikoaiko]

3. A lot of us locals wondered why it took a week for the arrest

Glad the police/prosecutors got their shit together and did the right thing.

The Boy Scouts sent him packing, too.

[gibraltar72]

4. Youth minister. Boy Scout Leader.

[d_r]

18. No longer BSA member

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/deplorable-boy-scouts-of-america-cuts-ties-with-rear-slapping-runner

[bitterross]

28. Yep. Bet he considers himself a Good Christian

I'd be willing to bet that part of his self-proclaimed identity is that he love Jesus and is a good Christian.

Shaking my head as always.

[Guilded Lilly]

5. Well deserved arrest. Accountability, pal. Start owning the criminality of entitlement assault. n/t

[Dennis Donovan]

6. Callaway has been contrite about the incident

I hope this doesn't ruin his life, but I'm glad that he's being held accountable by law enforcement.

[CurtEastPoint]

8. He's still denying he did it on purpose.

[Dennis Donovan]

14. I can't speak to his veracity in regards to that...

...I'm only noting that he's been vocally contrite.

[irisblue]

16. I think it was on his lawyers advice to try to save himself

[tenderfoot]

66. Well yeah, he was caught on camera slapping a woman in the ass.

eom

[Dennis Donovan]

70. I'm not defending his actions...

...it was a fucked up thing to do. Just pointing out that one action shouldn't ruin ANYONE'S life.

[whopis01]

77. I believe that depends on what the "one action" is

There are plenty of actions someone could take that should lead to a major punishment.

Sexual assault is one of those, in my opinion.

[defacto7]

22. If he didn't do it on purpose I'm sure the camera shows

him apologizing profusely. If not, well... too bad for him.

[Raster]

24. and the camera does not show him even slowing down...

...he did it on purpose. The thought he was being guy-clever. And he's still lying.

[IronLionZion]

39. Oh sure, like he tripped and fell and feels totally innocent

And the video is just fake news. Feminist conspiracy to ruin a Christian youth pastor's life for doing God's work, War on Christmas, Boy scouts have girls now, etc.

The video shows some deliberate butt slapping. Senator Al Franken was forced to resign for a side hug where he grabbed a woman's waist. It's time for people to be held accountable, otherwise it's not a deterrent.

[cab67]

15. He's not taking full ownership.

I do give him some credit for stepping up publicly about this, but so far, he's been balancing his contrition with excuses and a denial that he hit her backside on purpose.

[Merlot]

32. He didn't hit her backside on purpose, his hand did.

If it were up to him, it never would have happened, but he can't control his unruly hand.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

17. It will not ruin his life.

[JonLP24]

23. Why care if this ruins his life?

I'm tired of coddling people who do this sort of thing.

[mwb970]

36. The question is...

What kind of man sees a woman he doesn't know and his very FIRST impulse is to slap her on the butt?? This speaks to a LIFETIME of callousness and indifference toward others. Cruel right-wing evangelical "Christians" are the very worst in this regard.

[cab67]

46. More than once, he's said something to the effect that "this isn't my real nature."

I beg to differ.

[cwydro]

50. He's not contrite; he's lying and saying it's an accident.

His leering look on the video makes it clear he meant to slap her ass.

I’ve run in a lot of races; he’d have to make an effort to hit her butt...he had to bend over somewhat. Patting her on the shoulder would be totally different.

I hope he pays a hefty fine. More than that, I hope he’s learned something most of us learn as children - to keep his hands to himself.

[flvegan]

75. Apologist.

Fuck him. I hope it does. And as far as being "contrite" he lied about that too.

So again, fuck him and anyone who plays apologist for him.

[cwydro]

7. And he's still lying about it.

What scum.

[lostnfound]

9. This is so different from what us 50-somethings grew up with in the 70s.

You live long enough, you start to realize how much social norms evolve.

In the 70s, this guy would have been seen as acting like an idiot, but certainly not criminal.

In the 70s the culture was waking up in other ways, youth was upset about stereotypes, the draft and the war, job discrimination against women and minorities, overt and widespread racism, including parental opposition to interracial dating.

I feel old.

[Arkansas Granny]

10. The fight for women's rights has been long and it's not over yet.

Autonomy of ones own body is just part of the fight.

[getagrip_already]

11. In trumplandia....

There heads are just shaking. If the guy ends up with just one on his jury, he will walk.

Im sure he will be able to plea to something innocuous.

And in trumplandia, inter racial dating is a capital offense.

[defacto7]

25. I remember.

So what happened to society? Harassment was looked down upon but that didn't stop it. I suppose it finally took criminalization to begin to put an end to it. It took the intrusion of the video universe to put harassment in the public eye. It's too bad we couldn't have improved society with empathy; it takes punitive action unfortunately.

[mr_lebowski]

31. Well, one thing that hasn't changed is that if the victim was a man

He'd be laughed out of the precinct, and ridiculed by everyone who heard about his complaint. Provided the assailant wasn't another man, I mean.

So at least some things never change.

[JonLP24]

35. If the assailant was another man they'd probably be ridiculed as well

I also recently watched Unbelievable which is very accurate for a true story and it wasn't that long ago so police in general are often not very helpful when it comes to this kind of thing especially considering less than 1% of rapes result in felony convictions.

[mr_lebowski]

38. There'd at least be a few cops willing to take a case like that up ...

If for no other reason than their intrinsic homophobia ...

[JonLP24]

41. I think homophobia is why cops would ridicule a man taking a complaint against another man

This isn't cops but this is mindset male victims have to deal with it.

50 Cent posted a pair of photos of Crews on Instagram, one showing him topless with the words "I got raped, my wife just watched" superimposed over it and another of the actor with a rose in his mouth and the words "Gym time."
"LOL,What the f*** is going on out here man?," 50 Cent wrote in the caption. "Terry: l froze in fear, they would have had to take me to jail. Get the strap."

https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/27/entertainment/50-cent-terry-crews/index.html

[cab67]

47. We're of the same generation.

This is why I get disgruntled with "is the glass half-full or half-empty" type questions. It should be seen as an active sentence - the glass is not yet full, but it's filling.

[lostnfound]

62. I LOVE that answer.

My glass was half full but seems to be draining for a few years.... 👀

[wnylib]

48. I recently bought an old copy of Life Magazine

at a public library fund-raising sale. The publication date is December 6, 1968. For people too young to remember the magazine, it was a major photo journalist news mag at the time.

There is an article in it devoted to the debate over whether newspapers should stop separating job listings by gender. In those days, newspaper help wanted columns were a good job source, from engineering and medical openings to clerical office work and skilled and unskilled labor in factories.

The Life article ridicules the push by women to eliminate the gender categories for job listings as petty and silly. It ends by saying that things are not likely to change -- at least not in the near future, if ever.

Things did change. The gender categories ended, and so did Life Magazine.

[lostnfound]

61. Great post, good story. Nt.

[wnylib]

71. Thanks. i couldn't pass up that issue. Although

it came out in December of 1968, it had a lengthy article on the 1968 Dem convention chaos, when Chicago police beat up protesters and anyone else in sight, including some reporters on the scene. I was 18 years old at the time. Wanted to see the coverage given to it from today's perspective.

Only later, on browsing through the magazine, did I notice the article about separating job listings by gender. It reminded me of how dismissive society in general was about women's rights.

[Mc Mike]

12. Physically threatening, sex pest, imbecile. She should get to wack Callaway's ass on live tv

with a cricket bat, or designate a pinch hitter to do so in her place.

[RhodeIslandOne]

19. He'd probably like it...n/m

[The Animator]

13. Play stupid games

win stupid prizes

[aikoaiko]

20. Oh hellz yeah. Gloria Allred is the reporter's attorney.

Now it makes sense why the police had the epiphany to arrest after a week of deliberation.

Let’s hope there is a nice suit and settlement that follows.

[marble falls]

21. Sometimes it takes a crane to lift someones conscousness.

[Gothmog]

26. Lock this idiot up

[gulliver]

27. It was wrong but should be forgiven.

Last edited Sat Dec 14, 2019, 12:30 PM - Edit history (1)

An apology has been made but only partly. The point that what he did is wrong was made. Now the importance of forgiveness should be shown.

[Merlot]

37. Has he asked for forgiveness? has he taken full responsibility and acknowledged

that what he did was wrong?

What crimes are allowed "forgiveness" as final punishment? Where do we draw the line?

[gulliver]

44. Sort of.

He's currently saying he intended to touch her back, not her back side. And he's saying that if he saw how she reacted, he would have turned and apologized.

I do think he should apologize formally. But I also see that his fear of doing so would not be irrational. Is it justice to apologize only to face a consequence that could seriously harm not only oneself but one's family? The answer isn't cut and dried.

Tolerance is extremely important. It's in engineering and The Lord's Prayer. You can't have a stable system without it in this world. It is routine and difficult.

The reporter, the offender, and we need to find an answer that is proportional and contributes to healing, learning, and peace.

[JonLP24]

45. I just think the reporter should be able to do her job without being sexually harassed

I'm not worried about him. I don't go around doing this.

[gulliver]

49. I agree.

[tblue37]

69. She says he didn't just slap, but also grabbed and squeezed. nt

[wnylib]

51. Should be forgiven because???

Women deal with this kind of assault and harrassment all the time. Much worse in the past, but obviously still ongoing. It is demeaning and disrespectful. It is sexual assault because the man gets a cheap thrill from non-consensual touching of a woman's body in a personal, sexual way. It is an attempt to reduce a woman to an object, a toy for self use.

I would not say never forgive him. People even forgive murderers. But he should still pay a penalty. To do otherwise is to minimize and condone the behavior and to let men think it is ok. It is not.

[gulliver]

58. I agree. What he did is super serious.

There's no pat answer how it works out unfortunately.

[wnylib]

68. Nonsense. Of course there is a simple answer

and your pun was humorless.

It was an act of sexual assault caught on film. Charge him for it.

[gulliver]

72. That wasn't a pun.

I had no intention of making a pun.

[wnylib]

73. It looked like one.

[gulliver]

74. Yeah, I see it, but it wasn't an intentional pun I promise

[Lexee]

59. He hit a person. We are not a society where a man can hit someone and walk away.

[whopis01]

78. He sexually assaulted someone. n/t

[sarisataka]

64. It is not my place to forgive him

That is reserved solely to the victim.

All I can do is condemn the action as unacceptable. Even if the victim chooses to forgive him, it applies only to this situation; the action is still unacceptable in all other cases.

[mwb970]

30. Check out the comments after the article about this on The Hill.

https://disqus.com/home/discussion/thehill-v4/man_seen_slapping_reporter039s_rear_on_tv_charged_with_misdemeanor_battery/

All of the conservatives basically say "Get over it" and are totally dismissive of this woman and her feelings and concerns. Here are a few typical trump cultist comments that were just posted here:

"Apologize for overstepping his bounds and overzealousness, sure. Arrested for sexual battery? LOL - hell no! This young woman "victim" will divorce a guy in ten years and take his kids, all his hopes and dreams, and leave him poor and bitter. But right now she's a "victim of sexual battery." LOL!"

"How many times did Trump do that to Crooked Hillary in the debates and ended up winning the election...... Hahahahah"

"Another info babe looking to get a better gig. However, if this bothered her that much, rest assured she will NEVER be brought into the studios where there are males around. The station does not wish to encourage a sexual harassment suit. She is forever to be a foul weather outside reporter."

"Another media elite looking for some publicity over a perceived outrage. This is 2019 honey you need to get over yourself."

[JonLP24]

33. The comments on social media were awful as well

I feel like we have to solve racism & sexism all over again because I no longer believe better policies is enough to beat Trump. Hate is keeping that party alive.

[Lonestarblue]

34. Would conservatives feel the same if the genders were reversed?

How about a woman slapping a male reporter’s butt publicly on the air? Or grabbing his crotch a la Trump? I’m sure conservatives would tell men to just get over it. Not. It’s time for men to learn that women’s bodies aren’t there for them to fondle whenever they want, a lesson that decent men learned early on but some men just never seem to learn.

[mr_lebowski]

42. Yeah, they absolutely WOULD tell a man to get over it ...

Gonna have to call 'nonsense' on your 'not' there

They'd ridicule a man if the situation were reversed, just as viciously if not more so, actually.

It's all tied into their irrational hatred of anything that reminds them of 'The PC Police' ... and hence 'how liberals would view something'.

They must ALWAYS in their minds ... think the opposite of us on these wedge/cultural issues.

[cwydro]

53. Highly unlikely it would happen to a male reporter.

So it’s a moot point.

[mr_lebowski]

55. Thanks for clearing that up ...

[exboyfil]

54. Say the man was black

and the reporter's name and look was a little more Western European?

[Pepsidog]

40. Good. He deserves a punch in the face.

[getagrip_already]

43. In trumplandia, they would buy him a beer...

And have a big old laugh. It seems to be what they are doing.

This wont go to trial as sexual battery. It will get reduced either through plea or prosecutor discretion to something trivial.

He wont do time. He will probably get the equivelant of pre-trial probation and charges will get dismissed.

He will probably run for congress as a gop candidate and win.

Because thats what happens in trumplandia.

[Hoyt]

52. I've seen the video, and the look an that A-wipe's face is enough to convince me it's battery.

Georgia Law: "Sexual battery is a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature, punishable by up to 12 months in jail and a fine of up to $5,000. A second or subsequent conviction for sexual battery or a conviction for sexual battery against a child under the age of 16 is punishable by one to five years' imprisonment."

[Stargazer09]

76. Definitely premeditated

He saw an attractive female reporter talking to the camera and decided he’d be a locker room hero if he grabbed her butt while she was on the air.

He was leering as he moved into position and attacked her. There is no way that this was an accident or a “caught up in the moment” thing.

If it had been an accident, he would have apologized immediately. Instead, he kept running.

I do not feel sorry for him. Let him be an example to others that we are not going to put up with assault.

[exboyfil]

56. An apology is meaningless

Intent is clear.

[Prosper]

57. Attacked was the expression on her face !!!!

[Trailrider1951]

60. That was an ASSAULT!

If he had run by and smacked her FACE, what would the argument be? He SHOULD be facing assault charges. This sort of behavior is NEVER correct, funny, or excusable!

[getagrip_already]

63. actually its battery... not assault

Battery is a physical act. Assault is a threat to act.

[Trailrider1951]

65. Hey, thanks for the clarification!

A lawyer I am not.

[struggle4progress]

67. "First we weren't supposed to shoot brown and black people! And now it's not OK to smack women!

What is happening to my country?"