robin brown

The News Journal

Yearbook photo reportedly showed boy's genitals

Spencer Graves has been with WSTW for seven years

Graves is scheduled to return to the air on Thursday morning

A Wilmington radio personality has been suspended for posting an edited version of a controversial photo reportedly included in Salesianum School's yearbook.

But fans of WSTW Wakeup Crew's Spencer Graves can cancel their petition to get him reinstated. He's due back on 93.7 FM at 5:30 a.m. Thursday.

Michael Reath, vice president and general manager of WSTW and WDEL 1150 AM, on Tuesday confirmed his Friday suspension and yearbook snafu details.

Graves, who could not be reached Tuesday night, detailed the situation in a Saturday post on Tumblr.

Thursday, he said, "we talked about a picture ... in the Salesianum yearbook of a cross country runner who was fully exposed, out of his running shorts. Their picture was never edited. We told the story briefly," he said, and asked listeners to share high school embarrassments. Later came "calls, tweets, Facebook posts and emails regarding the actual picture." Graves said he was not trying to "drag this young man through the mud."

After learning a sports website that posted the photo after the race later took it down, Graves decided "to remove the edited picture" from posts.

School officials could not be reached late Tuesday.

Reath told The News Journal that Graves, at WSTW more than seven years, was suspended as "a result of how the photo was handled online and how it was handled after more information became available from the school."

The yearbook gaffe "was a news story," he said, but Graves went too far.

Station leaders "felt we had to make a strong statement in response to the community concerns, valid concerns," he said.

Graves apologized to the teen, his family and all "offended or disappointed" to see the edited photo in his online statement.

Graves accepted suspension, noting, "I'm a public figure, a big boy and I can take it."

Fans posted vows to tune out in his absence, some starting a petition.

Such support didn't surprise Reath, who said the station has "a large and loyal following."

Contact robin brown at (302) 324-2856 or rbrown@delawareonline.com. Find her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter @rbrowndelaware.