After the physical pain that 18-year-old Michael Fay endured from his caning in Singapore, he may be able to enjoy a financial bonanza by baring all.
"I can guarantee the exclusive pictures of his buttocks are worth at least one-half million - maybe more. People want to see his buttocks," says David Schmidt, a publicist who wants Fay to join clients such as Jeff Gillooly, figure skater Tonya Harding's ex-husband.
Fay received four lashes from a slender, split-bamboo rod - a whipping known to peel flesh - Thursday after pleading guilty to vandalism in Singapore. Fay later said his confession was coerced.
The caning, which followed two months of emotional debate over the cruelty of the punishment, stirred strong reaction - both pro and con - nationwide.
"A moral and human outrage (that) is torture, torture, torture, torture," says one of Fay's lawyers, Theodore Simon of Philadelphia.
The Clinton administration condemned the caning, summoning Singapore's ambassador to the State Department. But others, who backed a get-tough stance on crime, applauded the punishment.
"I think he got what he deserved," says David Jenkinson, 40, of Westchester, Ohio.
Fay was flogged along with nine other people. Prison doctors say his condition is satisfactory. Singapore officials say his parents are scheduled to visit him May 17. He will be freed from prison June 21.
If he makes his deals fast, some publicists say Fay and his divorced parents can profit from the case. "This guy is a walking time bomb of Hollywood financial success," says Schmidt. But the "window of opportunity is very limited. . . . Time is of the essence in getting top dollar."
Radio stations, publishing companies and major TV talk shows have approached the Fays, from Oprah Winfrey to Sally Jessy Raphael.
Randy Chan, Fay's mother who lives in Singapore, says she may write a book about the case "as a kind of therapy."
Chan says she initially tried to shun publicity but decided to "go for it" when she realized her son was not going to be fairly treated in Singapore.
"I want to make sure that - when this thing is over with - when Singapore is mentioned, people all around the world will think of only one thing," she says.
Offers are pouring in for movies, story rights and television appearances. Book rights could be worth a million dollars, while full movie rights could bring in anywhere from $ 750,000 to $ 1.3 million.
Fay's father, George Fay, who lives in Ohio, has appeared on talk shows and also been under a media barrage. But he says the publicity is not about making money.
"This is not the Tonya Harding story," he says, adding that he fears his son might not be motivated to finish school and earn a living if he grew wealthy from the ordeal.
Some people weren't happy that the caning could end in profit.
"Our society is sick," says Jenkinson. "Give me four lashes with a cane, and promise me 7, $ 8 million. It's wrong."
