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Photog charged in Witherspoon incident

Photo: Actress Reese Witherspoon in Beverly Hills, Calif., Sept. 20, 2005.

ANAHEIM, California- A photographer was charged with child endangerment and battery for allegedly striking a five-year-old child with his camera and shoving another out of the way to take pictures of Reese Witherspoon and her children. Todd Wallace, 44, was charged Friday and was due back in court Wednesday, Assistant City Attorney Patrick Ahle said. The photographer also is charged with battering the five-year-old's mother, who is a friend of Witherspoon, and two employees at a Disney theme park, said Anaheim Police Sgt. Rick Martinez. Wallace became angry when the Legally Blonde star and her friends declined to be photographed Sept. 2 at Disney's California Adventure and cursed them, Martinez said. Wallace was initially cited for misdemeanour assault and battery of the two employees. The incident left some of the children in tears. Tabloids must realize that "battering and endangering a child to get a picture for their magazines is criminal and not business as usual," said Witherspoon's lawyer, Blair Berk. A phone message left for Wallace early Saturday was not immediately returned. He served more than four years in prison after a 1993 conviction of second-degree burglary and receiving goods by fraud, according to state corrections records. In August, prosecutors decided not to charge photographers whom Witherspoon said chased her from her gym and trapped her outside the West Los Angeles gated community where she lives with her husband, actor Ryan Phillippe, and their two children.