'Girls Gone Wild' video empire owner charged with sexual battery

LOS ANGELES TIMES
LOS ANGELES -- "Girls Gone Wild" video empire owner Joe Francis was charged with misdemeanor sexual battery Wednesday on allegations that he touched an 18-year-old woman's breast, buttocks and inner thigh repeatedly during a party in January at a Hollywood eatery.
Francis, who Monday in a separate case was sentenced to 35 days in prison by a federal judge for criminal contempt, is scheduled to be arraigned May 22, said Frank Mateljan, a Los Angeles city attorney spokesman.
Francis faces up to six months in jail if convicted.
Mateljan said that during a Jan. 20 birthday party at the Geisha House, an upscale Japanese restaurant, Francis was seated next to the woman, and that's when the inappropriate vehaviour took place. Mateljan said within days the woman filed a report with the Los Angeles Police Department.
Francis, a Santa Monica-based multimillionaire who has made a fortune selling risque videos of scantily clad women, was arrested by federal marshals when he failed to meet a deadline to appear in a Florida court case.