Nude photos of Jiri Tlusty surface on the web

Nude photos of Toronto Maple Leaf winger Jiri Tlusty, apparently taken last year during his season with Soo Greyhounds, have turned up on the Internet.

The Globe and Mail's Tim Wharnsby reports in a blog posted this morning that the images were posted on the Canadian celebrity gossip website IsThisHappening.com

In a front-page article titled "Lusty Tlusty," the Toronto Sun's Steve Simmons says that the raunchy images were actually taken by Tlusty himself.

They were later removed from the website after an intervention by the player's lawyer, Jerome R. Morse. "Mr. Tlusty took these photographs of himself with his camera phone last year," Morse e-mailed the website. "As such, Mr. Tlusty is the owner of these photographs and any unauthorized publication of these photographs is a violation of his copyright."

"I feel like s--t right now," Tlusty is said to have replied to the website.

The Sun quotes unnamed sources as saying that Tlusty had posted the images on his Facebook profile and also e-mailed "a full-frontal nude photo of himself to a woman he met online."

The following statement was issued by the Maple Leafs:

************************* Ferguson and Tlusty respond to unauthorized photos

STATEMENTS RELEASED AFTER LAST NIGHT’S GAME BY JOHN FERGUSON AND JIRI TLUSTY:

In response to media queries regarding the unauthorized posting of photographs of Jiri Tlusty on the Internet, General Manager John Ferguson of the Toronto Maple Leafs issued the following statement:

“Photographs were posted recently on the Internet without Jiri’s knowledge or consent. He made a naïve mistake as a teenager. It’s a lesson in how something private came easily become very public in the Internet age. Hopefully it’s a lesson that other people will learn from as well.”

Jiri Tlusty: “I used poor judgment in this instance last season and I have learned a valuable lesson. It will not happen again and I have no further comment.”

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