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Fired DCF Official Was Friendly, But Troubling, Colleagues Recall
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Published: February 6, 2008
TAMPA - Co-workers and acquaintances of a former TV newsman, fired as a spokesman for the Department of Children & Families, remember him as an affable and animated man who had many friends but occasionally displayed behavior that made them wary of his professional ethics.
Al Zimmerman
A former co-worker at a Georgia television station, where Al Zimmerman was an on-air reporter in the mid-1990s, said she began to distrust Zimmerman after she found that he had tried to borrow money from a woman he featured in several news reports.
The woman told The Tampa Tribune that she began to feel that Zimmerman was trying to take financial advantage of her.
In 1996, while reporting for a station in Texas, Zimmerman was criticized for a report about men using a public restroom for sexual trysts. The night the report aired, the news station fielded scores of phone calls from angry viewers because an image of two men engaged in a sex act was not sufficiently blurred. Zimmerman, at the time, blamed it on a technical problem.
Activities On Internet Are Unclear
On Friday, Zimmerman was arrested on eight charges of using a child in a sexual performance. Authorities have said he offered money to two boys, one 16 and one 17, asking them to take pictures of themselves masturbating. Zimmerman was released Saturday on $120,000 bail.
Zimmerman then was fired as spokesman for the Department of Children & Families. Officials at DCF said Zimmerman met at least one of the boys through his job with the department. They are investigating the possibility that more youths were approached by Zimmerman.
Zimmerman's case is under investigation by the Florida Attorney General's CyberCrime unit. Zimmerman's level of Internet involvement is unclear.
He had a MySpace page, on which he described himself as a "swinger." The page has been taken down.
Public records show that in 1998, Zimmerman and his brother bought the Web domain name "boxersorbriefs .com." The site is not in use and it is not clear whether it ever has been.
"Any computer activities or Internet activities that he was involved in would be part of the investigation," Tampa police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said.
Messages left with Zimmerman's parents and brother were not returned.
In 1994, Zimmerman was a reporter for WMAZ-TV in Macon, Ga. He reported several stories about a police chief in nearby Warner Robins, Ga., who was involved in a scandal.
Liz Fabian, a fellow reporter, said she was friends with Zimmerman until she got a call from the police chief's wife. Jackie Johnson told Fabian that Zimmerman had tried to borrow $3,000.
"Al was a fun guy," Fabian said. "He was jovial. People liked him. He was like a fraternity brother. But after working with him awhile, I grew not to trust him."
Fabian said she forwarded Johnson's complaint to the station's general manager but doesn't know what became of it. A station official did not return a phone message.
Johnson said Zimmerman had interviewed her several times. She hoped that his reports would exonerate her husband.
At the time, Johnson's son signed with a professional baseball team and had received a bonus. One day, she said, Zimmerman asked her to borrow money.
"At that point, I was getting real suspicious," Johnson said.
Soon, when Zimmerman would call, Johnson said she would make sure someone was with her so she didn't have to be alone with him.
Two years later, in Texas, Zimmerman was charged with writing bad checks. The charge was dropped. He was charged a second time in Texas and once in Tampa on the same charge. The Tampa charge was dismissed after he paid a fine.
Criticized For 'Perverts' Report
In 1996, while reporting for KENS-TV in Texas, Zimmerman was criticized for a report called "Perverts in the Park."
According to the San Antonio Express-News, Zimmerman reported on men meeting for sex acts at a public park's restroom. The report ended with video taken from a hidden camera in the restroom.
Zimmerman told the newspaper that he was finishing the report at the last minute and a technical difficultly caused graphic footage to air. A digitizing process, which was supposed to blur the image, did not work properly, he said.
After the report aired, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation said Zimmerman sensationalized gay men for shock value and ratings. The group also criticized him for using the word "perverts," saying the term dehumanized the men.
The alliance said Zimmerman did no reporting to explain "social forces" that might compel "deeply closeted" men to seek out anonymous sex.
Cody Marcum, 35, of Grand Prairie, Texas, said he's amazed by the current accusations against Zimmerman, someone he considered a close friend. The two worked together at KENS.
"This is a complete shock," he wrote in an e-mail to the Tribune. "If you ever met him, you would be his best buddy in five minutes. He was always a 'guy's guy.' But a long friendship does not excuse any of this. I can only hope that if these charges are true, he owns up to what he did and takes his punishment. I've separated myself from him. No phone calls or e-mails."
Researcher Michael Messano and reporter Mike Wells contributed to this report. Reporter Thomas W. Krause can be reached at tkrause@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7698.
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