Married youth minister is arrested and criminally charged for slapping a reporter’s behind live on television during a 5k run
- Thomas Callaway, 43, was arrested for misdemeanor sexual battery on Friday
- He slapped the behind of reporter Alex Bozarjian, 23, in Georgia last weekend
- Bozarjian says she felt ‘sharp sting’ and that Callaway also ‘grabbed’ the buttocks
- Callaway claims he was trying to slap her on the back as he ran by her
Thomas Callaway, 43, was arrested on Friday on a charge of misdemeanor sexual battery
A youth minister who slapped the bum of a female reporter on live television as she delivered a report has been criminally charged.
Married youth minister Thomas Callaway, 43, of Statesboro, Georgia was arrested on Friday on a charge of misdemeanor sexual battery in connection with the incident at the Savannah Bridge Run last weekend.
WSAV-TV reporter Alex Bozarjian, 23, was broadcasting live as runners streamed past her on a prominent bridge in the coastal city, when a grinning Callaway slapped her right in the backside.
Jail records showed Callaway was booked Friday afternoon. His attorney, Joseph Turner, declined to comment in an email late Friday.
A video clip of the incident sparked outrage and went viral on Twitter
Callaway was identified as a youth church minister from Statesboro, according to social media posts. Bozarjian (right) had called for him to be prosecuted
‘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,’ the station added.
Video from Bozarjian’s live broadcast Saturday posted online showed one of the passing runners appearing to swat her from behind.
The video shows the stunned woman stop talking for a moment and stare as if shocked. The video clip had been viewed more than 11 million times on Twitter as of Friday.
‘You violated, objectified, and embarrassed me,’ Bozarjian wrote recently on Twitter. ‘No woman should EVER have to put up with this at work or anywhere!! Do better.’
She told police the man had slapped and then grabbed her buttocks.
Callaway stepped forward earlier this week as the man who slapped Bozarjian. He went to the TV station to give an on-camera apology the station aired Tuesday evening.
‘It was an awful act and an awful mistake,’ Callaway said at the time.
Callaway said he didn’t intend to slap the reporter on the rear. He said he was raising his arm trying to pat her on the back or the shoulder and didn’t realize until seeing the video that he had touched her buttocks.
Callaway told Inside Edition: ‘I was getting ready to bring my hands up and wave to the camera to the audience, there was a misjudge in character and decision-making. I touched her back; I did not know exactly where I touched her.’
Callaway goes on to say that he’s ‘disappointed’ in himself and feels horrible that his actions have hurt Bozarjian.
When an Inside Edition reporter read Bozarjian’s tweet to Callaway, he said acknowledged that she was right.
‘I totally agree 100% with her statement. The two most important words were her last two words, “Do better,” and that’s my intention,’ he said.
Sexual battery is a misdemeanor in Georgia, punishable by up to a year in jail. State law defines the crime as making ‘physical contact with the intimate parts of the body of another person without the consent of that person.’