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WTVT Boss On Leave After Arrest At Adult Business
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Published: May 20, 2008
Updated:
TAMPA - The vice president and general manager of WTVT, Channel 13, has taken a leave of absence after police said they found him masturbating at an adult business.
Robert Linger, 49, of Lutz, is free on $750 bail. Tampa police charged him Friday with lewd and lascivious behavior and exposure of sexual organs, both misdemeanors, records show.
His employer on Monday referred questions about Linger to Erica Keane, a New York spokeswoman for Fox Broadcasting Co., which owns WTVT. She said Linger is on a leave of absence and has worked at the Tampa station for 18 years. She declined to comment further.
Police arrested Linger and five other men during an undercover operation about 11:15 p.m. Friday at Fantasy Land, an adult business at 4715 N. Lois Ave.
According to police, Linger and the other men formed a circle around male undercover officers and began masturbating. Linger also was seen masturbating as he sat on a couch, police said.
Fantasy Land, described in the affidavit as a movie theater, has been the scene of police activity in the past. Tampa police records show roughly 30 reports related to the business since May 2006, including drug and prostitution incidents, vehicle crashes and unspecified misdemeanor charges.
Police say that in 2002 they charged Mark Dennis, listed in public records as a cashier at Fantasy Land, with renting space for the purpose of prostitution, a misdemeanor. Dennis pleaded no contest; an adjudication of guilt was withheld, court records show.
Reporter Valerie Kalfrin can be reached at (813) 259-7800 or vkalfrin@tampatrib.com.
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Reader Comments
Posted by ( pacfandave ) on May 20, 2008 at 7:20 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Here's the thing about sex crime accusations: It doesn't matter whether you are guilty or innocent, you're pretty much toast. Suppose you beat the rap. You're already probably out of a job. Chances are good that you've lost your home and exhausted your bank account paying lawyers. No one will look at you, respond to you, or trust you in the same manner as before. I'm not saying the guilty should not be punished. I'm saying the innocent should not be. Most folks don't have the deep pockets the Duke lacrosse players' families had. Most folks are like the accused Florida band director who was fired, lost everything to lawyers, and then denied his job back after he was proven innocent. Be afraid...be very afraid!
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Posted by ( danrome1 ) on May 20, 2008 at 7:36 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Be afraid...be very afraid??? Of what? He chose to go into that establishment knowing full well that he, as a public figure, was taking chances and doing things that could eventually come back to haunt him.
How about, Be Responsible...Be Very Responsible!
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Posted by ( ad ) on May 20, 2008 at 10:25 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Someone in Tampa has it in for this guy. Yes, he was doing the wrong thing in public, but it appears the media, print and radio, is bound and determined to recount each and every "stroke" for the public's consumption. The next thing is we will see his address and arriving there, people will find stones to throw at him and his house.
He is an adult, in the company of adults in a private establishment. Any one going in there and expecting to see Christian children's activities should be confined. It is like going to a locker room and getting really embarrased because someone took their clothes off.
Doesn't any one else get tired of the "Moral Police" constantly looking for trouble in somone else's backyard?
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