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The radio personality vents his outrage over being charged with animal cruelty for the castration and killing of a wild boar Feb. 27.
By AMY HERDY
© St. Petersburg Times, published March 31, 2001
TAMPA -- Bubba the Love Sponge Clem returned to the 98 Rock airwaves Friday morning freshly fueled with outrage over his arrest on animal cruelty charges the night before.
"This is the first time in the history of the state of Florida someone has been charged with animal cruelty to a wild boar," said Clem, who promised to "sue everybody who was against me" and then leave town.
"Uncle," he said.
Clem, 35, and a 98 Rock producer and two listeners face animal cruelty charges for the on-air castration and slaughter of a wild boar Feb. 27 during Clem's popular morning show. A third-degree felony, they face up to five years in prison if convicted.
Longtime observers of the radio industry said it was the first time they had heard of a radio personality anywhere in the country being charged with a felony for the content of a broadcast.
"It's certainly caused a creative gasp (in the industry)," said Sean Ross, an editor with Air Play Monitor, Billboard's radio magazine.
Local officials said Clem was charged after it became clear the slaughter was not a spur-of-the-moment prank.
Paul Lauterberg, a hunter from Myakka City, called someone at the station Feb. 14 to discuss bringing in a wild boar, said Paul Rockhill, a Tampa homicide detective.
"That makes a huge difference in the criminal case," Rockhill said. "They knew about it two weeks in advance. . . . They did it to sensationalize."
Clem remained in the studio while the castration and killing in the parking lot was described by a producer on a cell phone. Pre-recorded pig squeals were broadcast, and a crowd in the parking lot cheered when the boar's testicles were severed.
Lauterberg, 35, and the station producer, Brent Hatley, 29, of St. Petersburg, and a listener who restrained the boar, Daniel Brooks, 37, of Pinellas Park, were all charged.
Clem was charged because "he orchestrated it," said Hillsborough State Attorney's Office spokeswoman Pam Bondi.
Officials with Clear Channel Communications, the Texas company that owns 98 Rock, formally known as WXTB-97.9, said Clem will remain on the air, although a new policy banning the use of animals in promotions is now in place.
They also apologized in a brief statement from 98 Rock General Manager Dan DiLoreto.
"In response to (the) charges, we at 98 Rock/WXTB reiterate our apology to the people of Tampa, our advertisers and the entire community," DiLoreto said. "The programming content of the Feb. 27, 2001, morning show was highly distasteful and showed poor judgment."
However, he said, "our employees are prepared to prove that they are innocent" of the charges.
Dozens of companies have withdrawn ads in protest of the slaughter, and animal rights groups continue to press for Clem's firing.
The Federal Communications Commission has notified Clear Channel it is investigating whether the broadcast was "obscene or indecent."
Ronald Cacciatore, Clem's attorney, said prosecutors must prove there was "specific intent to cause a cruel death or excessive or repeated infliction of unnecessary pain or suffering." He argues the castration and slaughter was no different than what is done to pigs slaughtered for market.
The arrest reverberated through the industry Friday.
"Bubba may be the first felony in the country," said Tom Taylor, editor of M Street Daily, an industry newsletter.
"Nationally, other broadcasters are watching this to see how local groups can affect the outcome of a situation like this," he said.
Others have faced misdemeanor charges for on-air pranks, most recently a Clear Channel broadcaster in Denver charged with tossing a chicken out a third-story window, injuring it.
While the castration and slaughter may have stepped well beyond the bounds of taste, "is it that much of a step up from telling everyone the mayor of Boston's dead?" asked Ross of Billboard's radio magazine, referring to a prank by a radio team fired for the incident.
Despite the outrage over the slaughter, Ross said, negative publicity is sometimes a good thing in the rough-and-tumble world of top 40 stations.
"(Clear Channel) will find out in three to six months whether the number of people turned off by this thing turns out to be greater than the number lured by the free advertising," he said.
As for Clem's career: "If he doesn't end up doing hard time, and people aren't outraged enough to turn the radio off, it will probably be just part of a legend."