Georgia Man Pleads Guilty To Sexual Battery For TV Rear End Slap

GEORGIA — Thomas Callaway, the Georgia man who was arrested and charged late last year after being caught on video slapping the rear end of a television reporter during a road race in Savannah, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor sexual battery on Tuesday.

According to Chatham County court records, the 44-year-old Callaway was sentenced to a year of probation and fined $1,000 after entering his plea, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. He was also ordered to perform 200 hours of community service.

Callaway was arrested and charged last December when he was caught on video slapping the rear end of television reporter Alex Bozarjian during a live television report covering a Savannah road race.

Video of the incident went viral on social media and Callaway apologized and said he never intended to slap her on the rear end when he reached out and made contact with the reporter as he ran by her live shot.

Millions have viewed the video since the incident, in which Callaway maintained he didn't make contact with Bozarjian's rear end after he was seen slapping her as he passed by.

After Tuesday’s hearing, Bozarjian told WSAV-TV on Tuesday, “All I really hope is that, going forward in the future, he will do better.”

She added: “While I understand that this has probably disrupted his life more than he ever imagined, nobody has a right to touch anybody or slap anybody for their own amusement.”

Bozarjian told the television station that she attended Tuesday’s hearing to finally accept Callaway’s apology and said that Callaway has attempted to apologize to her several times since the incident.

“A non-consensual butt slap may seem harmless to some people,” she told the station. “Other people would go as far as to call it flattering, but that’s obviously a toxic thought pattern, because what Mr. Callaway did on that bridge validates the idea that I don’t deserve my own personal space. It also reinforces the belief that as a woman, my body doesn’t belong to me.

“But the reality of that is it’s not true, because he came in court today and pled guilty to a crime.”