Pinkman Resigns as O.C. Fair Performer

Pinkman, the outgoing unicyclist who roamed the Orange County Fair performing in a pink bodysuit, quit his job Sunday after serving for weeks as one of the event’s most visible ambassadors.

Michael Maxfield resigned after fair officials received newspaper accounts from Eugene, Ore., saying he admitted fondling two girls there in 1991, said fair general manager Becky Bailey-Findley.

There were no allegations of wrongdoing at the fair, and Maxfield sought help after the incident and has stayed out of trouble since then, Bailey-Findley said. But officials talked to Maxfield and both sides feared the revelation would distract from his performances, she said.

“He certainly wants to bring joy to others,” she said, but he was concerned the notoriety surrounding “this incident from the past would impair his ability to perform in the present.”

He was never arrested, so nothing showed on criminal background checks before he was hired, Bailey-Findley said.

“He tried hard to rebuild his life and put it back together and that was something we tried to support,” she said. “His appearance here was an example of this. But the past caught up to him. It basically was his decision, and we were supporting that.”

Maxfield had rolled through the fair handing out cotton candy and performing before concerts. He also appeared at the Huntington Beach Independence Day parade and other events to promote the fair, she said. He could not be reached for comment Monday.