Georgia, US: A Georgia man who was seen slapping a female reporter's rear on live TV pleaded guilty Tuesday to a misdemeanor charge of sexual battery. Thomas Callaway was sentenced to a year on probation and fined $1,000 after entering his plea, according to records filed in Chatham County Recorder's Court. The judge also ordered him to perform 200 hours of community service.
Callaway, 44, was arrested and charged in December after he was caught on camera swatting the rear end of WSAV-TV reporter Alex Bozarjian as she was reporting live on a Savannah road race. Callaway was running in the race and reached out to strike a stunned Bozarjian as he passed her. A video clip of the incident was viewed millions of times on social media.
Before his arrest last year, Callaway gave an on-camera apology and said he never intended to slap the reporter's rear. He said he was raising his arm trying to pat her on the back or the shoulder and did not realize until seeing the video that he had touched her buttocks.
"All I really hope is that, going forward in the future, he will do better," Bozarjian told WSAV-TV after court Tuesday. "While I understand that this has probably disrupted his life more than he ever imagined," she said, "nobody has a right to touch anybody or slap anybody for their own amusement."
Bozarjian told CBS News in December the encounter made her feel "extremely vulnerable." "I would say the reason why maybe it caught so much fire is because the emotion is extremely relatable for women all over the world," she said.
There are a number of accounts of female reporters being harassed while doing their jobs. A 2018 survey by the International Women's Media Foundation reported 58% of female journalists surveyed indicated they had been threatened or harassed in person, and 26% said they had been physically attacked.
Last year, a reporter was kissed on air by a man while covering a music festival in Kentucky. In 2018, multiple reporters were subject to kiss attempts by strangers during live reports from the World Cup in Russia.
"He took my power, and I'm trying to take that back," Bozarjian told "CBS This Morning" in December, adding, "I think what it really comes down to is that he helped himself to a part of my body." Under Georgia law, sexual battery is punishable by up a year in jail.Check out this jerk smacking a @WSAV reporter's ass live on air. And sorry, that's my kiddo making horribly timed weird noises in the background. pic.twitter.com/6tzi6P1Jbo— Tonya (@GrrrlZilla) December 7, 2019
Before his arrest last year, Callaway gave an on-camera apology and said he never intended to slap the reporter's rear. He said he was raising his arm trying to pat her on the back or the shoulder and did not realize until seeing the video that he had touched her buttocks.
"All I really hope is that, going forward in the future, he will do better," Bozarjian told WSAV-TV after court Tuesday. "While I understand that this has probably disrupted his life more than he ever imagined," she said, "nobody has a right to touch anybody or slap anybody for their own amusement."
Bozarjian told CBS News in December the encounter made her feel "extremely vulnerable." "I would say the reason why maybe it caught so much fire is because the emotion is extremely relatable for women all over the world," she said.
There are a number of accounts of female reporters being harassed while doing their jobs. A 2018 survey by the International Women's Media Foundation reported 58% of female journalists surveyed indicated they had been threatened or harassed in person, and 26% said they had been physically attacked.
Last year, a reporter was kissed on air by a man while covering a music festival in Kentucky. In 2018, multiple reporters were subject to kiss attempts by strangers during live reports from the World Cup in Russia.
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