Cops: Sex Toy Thrown at WNBA Game Hit Girl, 12

An Ohio man has been charged with throwing a sex toy that hit a 12-year-old girl at a WNBA game in New York City earlier this month. Charles Burgess, 32, faces two assault charges over the incident at the Aug. 5 New York Liberty-Dallas Wings game, NBC News reports. A witness told the New York Post at the time that the sex toy hit the girl in the leg. "When it landed, the girl started screaming/freaking out (understandably) for like 30 [seconds] and got the attention of most people within the surrounding rows," the fan said.

Burgess' lawyer says his client plans to "vigorously fight these embellished and exaggerated charges." Paul D'Emilia tells the AP that Burgess voluntarily surrendered to New York authorities and was released pending a court date in December. Prosecutors say Burgess was captured on video pulling the sex toy from his pants and throwing it toward the court at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, but D'Emilia says the video doesn't show the sex toy hitting anybody.

The New York sex-toy throwing was part of a spate of similar incidents that led to at least two other arrests, reports the AP. Suspects in Georgia and Colorado told police that it was a prank that had been trending on social media. A cryptocurrency group has claimed responsibility but calls it "ridiculous" to suggest the group is trying to demean women's sports.