SPOKANE, Wash. — A man who claims to have slapped the backsides of dozens of women along a popular hiking trail that runs through the eastern Washington city of Spokane has read a tearful confession on live television.

Numerous women contacted law enforcement officers in recent days to report that a man approached them on the Centennial Trail, slapped them on the backside and then fled.

The Spokesman-Review says 28-year-old Jonathan Smith went to the offices of KHQ on Wednesday, identified himself as the spanker and apologized to victims.

Police say they are investigating and know where to find Smith.

During the roughly five-minute long confession, Smith he was trying to be “daring and mischievous, but not malicious.”