Man who claimed to be the Spokane Spanker has been arrested

A man who claimed credit for a string of bizzare assaults along the Centennial Trail, in which multiple women were slapped on the backside by a stranger as they walked or jogged, has been arrested.

The self-proclaimed “Spokane Spanker,” 28-year-old Jonathan Lee Smith, has been booked into the Spokane County Jail on 11 counts of assault with a sexual motivation. The charges are misdemeanors.

Smith walked into the downtown KHQ studio on Wednesday to admit to slapping nearly 50 women. In his five minute confession he said that he slapped women “to be daring and mischievous, but not malicious.”

“I saw women’s butts that I liked, and I slapped them for the thrill,” he said.

Smith offered to let his victims slap him in the face in retribution.