TV Personality Gets Probation in Sex Case

The 42-year-old former host and writer for the nationally syndicated television show “Puttin’ on the Hits” was sentenced to three years of probation for sexually molesting a 24-year-old woman he met at a restaurant.

As a condition of probation, Harry Alan Fawcett of Sherman Oaks will be required to participate in a substance abuse counseling program to help him with his drug and alcohol addictions, San Fernando Superior Court Judge Malcolm Mackey ordered Monday.

Under a plea agreement, Fawcett pleaded no contest in San Fernando Municipal Court on June 14 to an amended count of sexual battery for forcing the woman to orally copulate him in his apartment last February. He originally was charged with four felony sexual assault charges.

A second defendant, Joseph Kopyc, who also was orally copulated by the woman, pleaded no contest to misdemeanor sexual battery. He will be sentenced on Aug. 24.

According to court documents, Fawcett was high on cocaine and alcohol at the time of the incident and believed the woman, who had a sexual encounter with Fawcett four years ago, was a willing partner. The woman admitted she had inhaled cocaine before the sexual activity began, court documents said.

“Puttin’ on the Hits,” produced by Dick Clark Productions, featured weekly amateur lip-syncing contests. It aired from 1984 to 1988.

On the night of the incident, the two met at Tony Roma’s, where Fawcett was coordinating a lip-syncing contest similar to “Puttin’ on the Hits.” They returned to his apartment with several friends, including Kopyc, for a party, during which the sexual activity took place, court documents said.