Tampa Bay Radio: Sportscaster Busted For Solicitation

Justin Pawlowski

Longtime Tampa Bay sportscaster Justin Pawlowski, who spent years on local sports talk radio and broadcast from Bulls and Bucs football games, was arrested Wednesday on charges that he tried to solicit a 14-year-old boy.

Pawlowski, 37, faces charges of charges of transmitting harmful material to a minor, using a computer device to solicit a minor and unlawful use of a two-way communication device. The arrest was made on Hillsborough County charges, reports The Tampa Bay Times.

Pawlowski first contacted the 14-year-old — it was actually an undercover Tampa police officer — in a chatroom on Feb. 15, according to the arrest report.

The chatroom was entitled "Tampa Teens 14-18." The 37-year-old repeatedly texted who be believed to be a 14-year-old through March 1, police said, and sent an explicit photo of himself.

"The defendant also expressed interest in meeting with the child on several occasions," police said, to engage in sexual acts. Pawlowski was told several times that he was communicating with a 14-year-old, the report said. Once, Pawlowski asked the child to leave his home and walk down the street so that they could meet.

He formerly worked at sports WDAE 620 AM, going from promotions to executive producer to hosting his own show, his bio states. In 2007 he started working as the pre- and post-game radio show host for football games on the Bulls Radio Network until 2017. In 2011 he went to work for the Buccaneers Radio Network for two seasons.

Most recently, Pawlowski produced his own podcast, Bucs Uncensored, which aired on JoeBucsFan.com. His latest episode, No. 392, was about the NFL draft and posted Wednesday, the day of his arrest.