Alabama fan admits to sexually taunting LSU fan

Brian H. Downing is escorted by detectives for booking on charges at the New Orleans Police Department headquarters in New Orleans, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012. / AP Photo

NEW ORLEANS An Alabama man has pleaded guilty to two counts of obscenity for sexually taunting an unconscious LSU fan in a Bourbon Street restaurant after the BCS national title game in January.

Prosecutors said a deal reached Tuesday before the scheduled start of a trial for Brian H. Downing of Smith Station, Ala., calls for him to be sentenced to two years in jail.

"(Downing) puts his genitals in a person's face, whether it's a man or a woman, I think there should be some punishment for that," said District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro, according to CBS affiliate WWL-TV in New Orleans.

State District Judge Karen Herman set sentencing for Nov. 29.

A video that went viral on the Internet appeared to show someone in a University of Alabama jacket performing a simulated sex act on an unconscious man at the restaurant after the Crimson Tide beat LSU for the BCS football championship on Jan. 9.

Downing had pleaded not guilty in May to charges of sexual battery and obscenity.

He refused to comment after the plea was entered by his attorney.

The LSU fan, whose name has not been released, has sued Downing, asking damages for "mental anguish, humiliation, embarrassment, anxiety and depression ... damage to reputation" and lost tuition payments "for having to withdraw from school." Under state law, lawsuits cannot include a suggested dollar amount for damages for pain and suffering.

Downing's attorney said Downing lost his job after the incident and his family was suffering financial hardship.

New Orleans police at first said they could only investigate the case if the fan filed a complaint, then sent out a wanted poster with screenshots from the video. Downing, a cousin of Russell County, Ala., Sheriff Heath Taylor, turned himself in.

Taylor said in January that after learning from other family members that Downing had been identified as the Alabama fan, he called Downing's father and told him to bring him to the sheriff's office in Phenix City, Ala. He said he then called New Orleans police to ask whether they wanted him to jail and extradite Downing or send him to New Orleans to surrender. "New Orleans made that call," he said about sending Downing to the city to turn himself in.

[josephp5]

Am I the only one that thinks this whole thing is ridiculously overblown? Sure, it was a jerky thing to do. But the other guy was "unconscious" (a polite way to say he was dead drunk) and didn't even know it had happened! And no one even knew the identities of the people involved until New Orleans police circulated a "wanted" poster. And now this guy is extradited hundreds of miles away, has a conviction as a sex offender, and has two years of his life taken away. There are rapists that get less time than that! And the "victim" sure seems to be playing it up---suing for mental anguish, humiliation, depression, and lost tuition payments because he was so humiliated he had to withdraw from school! I'm not buying it---it's likely that he was flunking out anyway and just wants his tuition money back. All because of a raucous drunken act.

[eteamer]

Inbreed

[rwsmith29456]

Really, really gross. Even without the damages charges that was an act of gross indecency.

[Mathion]

What I think will be the funniest part of this is that this moron who shoved his crotch in another man's face will be in prison for performing an illegal sex act on another man.

That and the fact that he's a sex offender now and will, for the rest of his life, have to register as one. He'll never get a job above minimum wage. He'll never live in a decent neighborhood. His life is over.

Well, I guess this is natural selection in action. No one made him do it. He did it to himself. At least his chances of actually breeding and further polluting the gene pool are pretty much nil now.

[askagain]

This guy is such a jerk. Perhaps two years in jail will knock some sense into him.

[BillyCinNOLA]

You, S37EN, are a hater and an idiot!

[s37en]

ok so a guy gets so publically drunk and stupid he must be a democrat. then gets made fun of its goes viral and now he sue's.. yep sounds about right. mayeb the family of the american ambassador should sue obama over the ambassadors death. i mean he was gutted from the anus with a long stick. but obamas version has him being saved and brought to a hosppital when he died..... sure thing obama. maybe you should have been there. oh yea you never voted yes on anything.

[billyweeder]

I would be as angry as you too if I never got laid. Wow. Republicans never get drunk. Are you always this stupid, or is today a special occasion?

[Mathion]

And you think it's okay to do whatever the hell you want to some guy who's passed out drunk?

Must be a moronic right-winger with that attitude.

Oh, wait, changing this from behavior to politics. Yeah, it's another right-winger rooting for the very political ideology that threw his ass out into the streets when his job went overseas.

You know - delusional.