A photographer has sued a pair for defamation over their claims that he made lewd feedback to their daughter throughout a “10-second” shoot at a avenue honest. Freelance photographer Brent Nicastro filed a defamation lawsuit in opposition to Erika and Chris Lukas over their accusations after he took an image of their 17-year-old daughter at Willy Avenue Honest in Madison, Wisconsin, on September 22. Based on a report by Wisconsin State Journal, Nicastro is a longtime volunteer photographer for quite a lot of festivals and nonprofits in Madison. Within the lawsuit, Nicastro claims that native musician Tony Castañeda was driving across the honest in a golf cart to take photographs. Nicastro then says he had a 10-second interplay with a 17-year-old lady holding a chocolate-covered banana and took her photograph. Based on the court docket paperwork seen by Wisconsin State Journal, Castañeda allegedly approached the lady and stated one thing like “We’re taking photographs for Wil-Mar” (a reference to honest co-sponsor Wil-Mar Neighborhood Middle). She allegedly responded with one thing like: “Not like this.” Nonetheless, 28 minutes after Nicastro took the photograph, the lady’s mom Erika submitted a touch upon the Marquette Neighborhood Affiliation web site stating that her daughter and her daughter’s buddy “have been verbally sexually harassed … by two grey-haired male honest officers.”
Erika described the incident as “unacceptable” and expressed a need to get in contact with the 2 males. Based on the lawsuit filed final month, Nicastro says he acquired a telephone name from Wil-Mar Govt Director Gary Kallas that night relating to the allegations and returned the decision the next day to disclaim them. ‘Vital Hurt’ to a Photographer’s Repute Nicastro alleges that the couple falsely accused him of sexual misconduct and harassment. He claims that the lady’s mother and father weren’t current through the photograph shoot and Erika and Chris seem to have relied on what their daughter instructed them concerning the incident. Nicastro says he later despatched an e mail to Erika and Chris denying the accusations and alleges he merely took the photograph of their daughter as a result of he thought it “would properly illustrate somebody having fun with treats from the Willy Avenue Honest distributors.” Erika additionally filed a police report over the incident however the officer who investigated the matter opted to not refer any costs to the Dane County District Lawyer’s Workplace. Within the lawsuit, Nicastro says he instructed the investigating officer that he didn’t bear in mind the incident with the 17-year-old lady however that primarily based on what different individuals had instructed him about it, she and her buddy will need to have misheard him and Nicastro. Nicastro has now sued the couple for defamation, claiming that their feedback have accomplished “vital hurt” to his fame as a photographer. He’s asking a court docket to bar Erika and Chris from making “additional defamatory statements” about him “to anybody” and to organize them “to contact the people that acquired the defamatory statements and retract these statements.” The photographer can be in search of an unspecified quantity in financial damages. “I’ve lived and labored within the Marquette neighborhood [in Madison, Wisconsin] for practically 50 years and my fame has been spotless,” Nicastro says in a press release to Wisconsin State Journal, “I very a lot stay up for the reality popping out.”
Picture credit: Header photograph licensed by way of Depositphotos.
