Florida sportscaster accused of soliciting 14-year-old, police say

Longtime Tampa Bay sports broadcaster Justin Pawlowski, who spent years on sports talk radio and broadcast from University of South Florida and Tampa Bay Buccaneers 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 warrants were issued in Hillsborough County.

He was taken into custody at a St. Petersburg address by Pinellas sheriff’s deputies and booked into the Pinellas County jail at 8:54 a.m. Wednesday, records show. He was freed more than 8 hours later after posting $6,000 bail.

Pawlowski sent an explicit photo of himself to “what he believed to be a 14-year-old boy,” according to Tampa police. “The defendant also expressed interest in meeting with the child on several occasions,” police said, to engage in sexual acts.

Police did not say whether Pawlowski allegedly solicited an actual 14-year-old or an officer posing as one. No other details about the case were released. The arrest warrants were not available on Wednesday.

Pawlowski was an offensive lineman at Tampa Catholic High School who signed to play football for the University of Connecticut in 2000. He returned to Tampa to finish his degree at the University of South Florida and start his broadcasting career, according to his online bio. He became known as “The Commish” while broadcasting about fantasy football.

He worked at sports radio station WDAE-AM 620, going from promotions to executive producer to hosting his own show, his bio said. 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. However, JoeBucsFan.com said he has never been an employee there and oversaw the sponsorship deals for his own podcast. His latest episode, No. 392, was about the NFL draft and posted Wednesday, the day of his arrest.