Spanky the clown arrested on porn charges
Ah, the jokes, sometimes they just write themselves, eh?
Spanky, a clown with the renowned Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, has been arrested on charges stemming from a child pornography investigation, law enforcement officials said Tuesday.
Spanky, whose real name is Thomas Allen Riccio, 23, of Jacksonville, Florida, made an initial state court appearance Monday in Fayetteville, North Carolina, where he was traveling with the circus, the officials said.
He faces 10 counts of third degree sexual exploitation of a minor.
The arrest Friday was the latest in an ongoing international probe of subscribers to a child pornography Web site that was shut down in an international raid last July.
Of course, some would say that there is nothing funny about child pornography, and I would find it difficult to argue the point. Nonetheless, ol' Spanky clearly seems to have what it takes to be a true DUMB@$$- everything, it seems, except subtlety. Poor spanky will likely never work in this town again...and I'm not so sure that's a bad thing.
