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Written by Jabba
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Wednesday, 27 August 2008 |
 John Wineberger: Registered Sex Offender
John Wineberger has been hard pressed for time lately. Between selling hot dogs on the side of the road, taking his injured son Josiah to almost daily therapy sessions and trying to find a decent job to support his family, he hasn't had much time for himself. In February on 2007 Josiah was injured by a speaker that fell from its mount at Baywalk in St Petersburg. Since then the Wineberger family has filed a lawsuit against Baywalk's owners, the Sembler Group. After the lawsuit was filed Bubba went on air in support of the Winebergers and offered to help in any way he could. Several local businesses then contacted the show offering their goods and services up for a Bubba backed benefit. What everyone didn't know was a couple secrets John had been hiding.
Back in the boy band heyday John decided to get involved. He joined a local group called Second Nature. The peak of the groups popularity was reached in the late 1990's and John had taken control of the groups management. The group lived in the home of one of the groups members. A house that also had a 17year old girl living there. The problems began for John in 1999. The girl went to authorities with allegations that she and John had had sex atleast 1 time. She claimed the sex was consensual. A policeman came to the house to question John, he cooperated and thought the issue was over when the policeman left. During the investigation a second girl, who was dating a member of the group, claimed John had sexual relations with her also. In 2005 he was arrested and detained for 3 months. Upon his release he could not afford an attorney and was helped by a public defender. The state prosecutor offered John a plea deal: plead no contest, register as a sex offender and he would be done with the issue for time served. John decided it was in his and his family's best interest to take the deal even though he claims he was innocent.
Bubba got John on the phone to defend himself. John explained his case to the guys trying to maintain their support. After listening to John, Bubba then asked the guys what they thought they should do. Brent said the reason the state offered John such a nice deal was because of a weak case and he should have fought it. Spice told John that if he was really innocent he would have fought it until he didnt have a penny to his name. Bubba then decided that it would be up to the listeners to figure out whether the show would still support John. The listeners were pretty divided as to what to do. Bubba had one more trick up his sleeve to determine John's fate.
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