Fred Dillard, the comedy actor arrested earlier this week for exposing himself in an XXX adult theater will not have to fail jail time if he enrolls in counseling courses, authorities said, adding that this is not the first time that he has been arrested on a similar charge two decades earlier.
Willard was arrested by Hollywood under-cover vice squad officers in an adult movie theater Wednesday night after he allegedly exposed himself. In his defense, Willard denied the charges against him, saying that "it didn't happen" and that is was just a "big misunderstanding."
According to the The Los Angeles Times, Willard was arrested in 1990 on lewd conduct charges but did not reveal details or the disposition of the case.
Instead of serving jail time, Willard has been offered the option of enrolling in a "pre-filing diversion program" in lieu of a criminal filing. There are diversion programs for a variety of offenses, including drug and alcohol abuse in addition to sex-related crimes. Willard will pay $380 for the program.
I want to stress this was and is a filable case, and should the defendant choose not to enroll or not complete the program, we have the option of filing criminal charges within a year," said Frank Mateljan, spokesman for City Attorney Carmen Trutanich, according to the report. "Should he complete the course, we will consider the matter closed," Mateljan said.
The comic actor, 72, was dropped Thursday from his voice-over gig on PBS's Antiques Roadshow spinoff,Market Warriors, according to People. "Given the unfortunate news reported today, effective immediately, Fred Willard no longer will be involved with the Market Warriors series," Jeanne Hopkins, a rep for WGBH, the Boston public broadcaster that produces the show, said in a statement.
Willard is perhaps best known for his scene-stealing roles in Christopher Guest parody films (Best in Show, A Mighty Wind) and Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy as well as TV shows such as Get Smart, Everybody Loves Raymond, Modern Family and The Closer. According to the Internet Movie Database, Willard's next movie is called The Yank.
