LOS ANGELES — In announcing that Fred Willard will not face jail time in his arrest on suspicion of lewd conduct, the Los Angeles prosecutor revealed that the actor had been arrested on a similar charge two decades earlier.
The prosecutor said on Friday that Willard was arrested in 1990 on lewd conduct charges but did not reveal details of the case.
Despite that earlier incident, Willard will be able to enroll in a “pre-filing diversion program” in lieu of a criminal filing, said Frank Mateljan, spokesman for City Attorney Carmen Trutanich.
The program is administered by an outside vendor and costs about $380. There are diversion programs for a variety of offenses, including drug and alcohol abuse.
“I want to stress this was and is a filable case, and should the defendant choose not to enroll or not complete the program, we have the option of filing criminal charges within a year,” Mateljan said.
Vice officers arrested the 72-year-old actor Wednesday at the Tiki Theater on Santa Monica Boulevard.
