FOX NEWS GM/VP Arrested On Exposure Charge

TAMPA The vice president and general manager of WTVT Fox 13 was arrested Friday night on charges of lewd and lascivious behavior and exposure of sexual organs, jail records show.

Robert Linger, 49, of Lutz, was released from Orient Road Jail at 5:36 a.m. after posting $750 bail, records show

Linger was arrested at 11:15 p.m. as part of an undercover operation that Tampa police were conducting at Fantasyland, an adult business at 4715 N. Lois Ave., according to a criminal report affidavit.

Five other men also were arrested on similar charges, records show.

The affidavit states that Linger and the other men formed a circle around the undercover officers and began masturbating. Linger also was seen masturbating while sitting on a couch, the affidavit states.

Jail records list Linger's employer as New World Communications. New World Communications of Tampa Inc. is a subsidiary that is affiliated with WTVT. Repeated phone calls to Mike McClain, WTVT's vice president for news, were not returned.

Fantasyland, described in the affidavit as a movie theater, has been the scene of police raids over the years, with patrons and workers arrested on charges that have included prostitution and drug possession.