STORMY SKIES

TV Meteorologist Arrested Over Sex Tape Extortion Plot

Local authorities “feel that there may be some other victims out there.”

Former TV meteorologist Josh Fitzpatrick, 42, was arrested Tuesday after allegedly filming a sex tape and threatening to release it, authorities say. Fitzpatrick, who worked as a meteorologist for a little over two decades, was charged with felony sexual extortion and the unlawful creation of an image of another. Officers said that the victim was threatened with a secret video Fitzpatrick took during a consensual sexual encounter. Capt. Darrell Byers of the Albemarle County Police Department in Virginia said: “We feel that there may be some other victims out there, we do know that this person was recorded unknowingly.” If found guilty of extortion, Fitzpatrick could face up to 10 years in prison. The probe on Fitzpatrick opened when the victim first reported the incident to local authorities in February. The former weatherman previously worked at WVIR-TV in Charlottesville, Virginia, but police said he left his position and moved to Ohio in early March, weeks after the investigation began. He was arrested on a fugitive warrant in Ohio. In a Facebook post celebrating his 20 years in the business, he wrote: “In an era where many are leaving the business, I hope to be in it for the next 20+ years!” WVIR-TV covered his arrest, but has not released a statement. Fitzpatrick is in Ohio awaiting extradition to Virginia.