Julianna Rose Mauriello, the actress best known for her bubbly portrayal as Stephanie on the erstwhile children’s program LazyTown was picked up at 2:36am Tuesday morning on the charge of “trespassing with criminal intent” in Virginia.

Where is she now? Stephanie from Lazy Town.

Julianna Rose Mauriello was just 13 years old when the tv show that made her famous first graced the boob tube.

Right: Stephanie from LazyTown in a mug shot released by Birmington, VA Police Department. Image appears courtesy of Heather Gillam. (CLICK PHOTO TO ENLARGE)

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She played a pink-haired young girl on the Icelandic/American show opposite the sometimes-physically-inappropriate “Sparticus”, who at times seemed to have more than his eyes on her.

But all eyes were definitely on Stephanie Tuesday morning as she was hauled out of the Windsor Lux hotel in Birmington, Virginia. Following complaints by guests at the hotel an undercover officer was able to meet with her when she allegedly agreed to reinact her famous role with him donning a Sparticus costume, for the sum of $900.

Hotel staff report that this is not her first time causing trouble on the property, which is a real one, and stated that she is “known for her antics” and “you can take that anyhow you want,” though they failed to elaborate.

LazyTown was criticized when it originally aired as being wildly inappropriate in its treatment of the innocent young character. It is not uncommon for child stars to be exposed to adult lifestyles at unacceptable ages, and some in remote areas far removed from the show’s production believed that exactly this was taking place.

Marjoree Hamilton from Tusaloosa, Kansas said, “I watched that show with my daughter, but my husband always watched it like a juicy porkchop, always salivating at the screen.” Adding, “This is the devil’s TV!”

Producers of the show, speaking on background, were quick to point out that the legal age of consent in Iceland is 15, which Mauriello was for much of the shows run, and that this meant by default that the show was in no way inappropriate, no matter how overtly sexual in nature it was.

The age of consent in England, where the show also aired, is only 16, meaning that it was also appropriate, even if only from a victim grooming perspective.

And the age of consent in America is similarly low, with the age of 16 being acceptable for intimate physical consent in Washington DC, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Vermont, Washington and West Virginia.

Many states, such as Maine, have exceptions to the law going down to ages as young as 14, which the shows producers insist provides even further evidence that they were in the right to exploit her at such a young age.

Mauriello was an honor student at the Professional Performing Arts School (The Fame school) in Manhattan, New York, and has appeared on Broadway in Oklahoma, and also as a spectator in the audience of The Book of Mormon, where she played herself watching the play alongside her mother.

Charges are not expected to be filed in this, a case that only happened in your imagination… because, come on dude, what are you thinking? Let the girl have her life already. It’s bad enough I brought her name up, but I only did it to make fun of all you wierdos out there watching the show.

You Watch, You Decide

Was the show nothing more than a grooming tool for those seeking to take advantage of young girls? Watch this video, and you decide.

I’m sorry Miss Mauriello, this story kind of got away from me. This was never meant as any slight to you. You are a gifted performer and I wish you only the best in your career. This is meant only as a slap in the face to those creepy dads that watched your show, which was, let’s be honest, and you’ll probably understand this better when you look back on it later in life, highly inappropriate. You were put in a position you should never have, while just doing a job, and that’s no reflection on you as a person.