Posted on 04/12/2007 5:23:17 AM PDT by mborman
ATLANTA - At the world's busiest airport, plainclothes officers patrolling public restrooms in search of luggage thieves have instead uncovered a rash of other, more sordid crimes.
The new restroom dragnet has led to the arrests of more than 30 people in three months for indecent exposure and public sex acts at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
Airport restrooms apparently have become such popular meeting places for men looking for sexual trysts with other men that they have been suggested several times as meeting places in personal ads on the Web site Craigslist.
"Hey ... I'm stuck at the airport from 5 p.m. and I'm looking for a good time ...," one ad reads. In another, the person posting says he is stuck at the airport for three hours in the evening and is looking for "discreet, quick action."
The new patrols were started to stop theft, not catch people in sex acts, police officials say.
Officers started monitoring the restrooms after figuring out that thieves were pulling bags off baggage-claim carousels and taking them into toilet stalls to comb through them.
"We're trying to provide a safe environment for everyone at the airport," said Officer Joseph Villafane, a police spokesman. "We're not out to get all that — it's just we encounter it."
Among those arrested is Ed Wall, the board chairman of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority. An officer said he saw Wall having oral sex with another man. Wall, who has temporarily stepped down from his post, has maintained his innocence. A court date has not been set.
The other court cases are pending.
James Cates, a clinical psychologist, said airport indecency arrests usually involve people getting caught performing sexual acts. He said it illustrates compulsive behavior known as exhibitionism.
"They're not a lot different from any compulsion ... it's just that this kind of behavior can be offensive to people and can be traumatizing," said Cates, who counsels and performs psychological testing on sex offenders and people with sexual disorders. "They've got to have the thrill and as they keep not getting caught or reported, the thrill gets less and less. It has to become more risky and daring to keep the thrill up."
Still, some say the airport police should have better things to do than stake out restrooms.
"Police have far better things to do with their time than to arrest people for this," said Kenneth Sherrill, professor at Hunter College of The City University of New York. "Being 'sex police' in bathrooms strikes me as a perversion of rational law enforcement activities."
Atlanta's is not the only airport to have had restroom-related arrests. Former Washington, D.C., Mayor Marion Barry was ordered to pay $35,000 in damages to a custodian who said he shoved her and exposed himself to her in a bathroom at Baltimore-Washington International Airport in 2000. A year later, a county judge in Michigan was arrested at Detroit Metro Airport for allegedly exposing himself to an undercover officer, although a district attorney decided not to prosecute.
The Atlanta airport police efforts may be working, as new personal ads have on Craigslist have warned people to be careful.
"Do NOT do anything at the airport," one posting from March 29 reads. "If you want to hook up, do it outside the airport! Have fun but be smart about it. It's not worth going to jail for the night and having your face put on the news."
Another professor worrying about getting caught.
LOL!
After reading the story that I posted above, I'm just as irritated with the fact that they're tying up the HANDICAPPED STALLS to do this. That should be actionable and worthy of arrest just for that alone.
> Liberals are sickening.<
So are queers.
I noticed "action and adventure" going on in several US airports as I travelled home.
It's just now becoming "in" to report it in the news.
There's no dignity in restroom sex no matter the genders involved. Oddly enough the only instances I've run into first hand were heterosexual couples who declined to find a proper room.
Really. Who knew? What parent in his or her right mind would send a kid to a school with that kind of talent on the faculty?
From this source:
MARTA Transit Chairman Arrested for Public Sex Act
THE REPERCUSSIONS Recently there has been a crackdown on crimes of this nature in metro Atlanta areas. From late December of 2006, through the end of January, there have been 11 arrests for public indecency. Of those arrests a Spelman College professor, and a CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) adviser have been named.
Wall is well known throughout the metro Atlanta community, and is active in many local political circles. A member of the regional Transportation Planning Board, he also served on the Atlanta Regional Commission. Those who have worked with Edmund Wall have described him as "unconventional" often carrying backpacks to meetings, wearing bow ties, and entertaining others with his jovial (albeit quirky) personality.
And who wants to have sex - even thinks about sex- when in a smelly filthy extremely busy public toilet? Sick, sick, sick.
“The old prof is probably queer.”
Bingo! Check out his web page (and especially his bookmarks there) at Hunter College.
I'm going to blast him for taciting approving oral sex being the excuse for tying up a handicapped stall.
Well considering that he does live in Atlanta, they could call it “Elton’s John.”
Spelman Professor Admits Indecent Acts At Airport - December 21, 2006
Lev T. Mills, Spelman College professor pleaded guilty to a charge of indecency.
ATLANTA -- A Spelman College professor pleaded guilty Thursday to a charge of indecency. Police say Lev Mills was acting inappropriately in a bathroom stall at the airport and tried to solicit another man.
Officials say Mills was arrested Wednesday on a public indecency charge – and Channel 2 was in court Thursday afternoon when Lev T. Mills admitted to performing the unspeakable acts in a bathroom stall.
“I do not want to be humiliated anymore than what I’ve already been, so I would prefer to try to put this behind me as soon as possible,” said Mills.
And with that explanation, Lev Mills, an obviously embarrassed Spelman College arts professor, pleaded guilty to a public indecency charge.
Nearly 24 hours prior to the guilty plea, Atlanta Police say an undercover officer saw Mills in a bathroom stall at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
Officers say Mills was facing away from the toilet in the stall.
“And was masturbating while watching other patrons in the restroom,” explained B.C. Williams with the Atlanta Police Department.
Officers say the professor then went to a toilet and began staring at the private parts of a man who was relieving himself.
“He asked the other gentleman if he wanted to go with him,” said Williams.
Police say the man refused Mills’ sexual advances. Mills was then arrested on misdemeanor public indecency.
“I would like to plead guilty and pay the fine,” Mills said in court Thursday.
In lieu of 10 days in jail, Mills paid $303 in fines and court fees and was let go.
A Spelman College spokesperson told Channel 2 Action News the school was not aware of the charges and had no comment at this time.
Mills told the judge he just wants to move forward, “and gain from the mistakes I may have made.”
Officers believe this is an isolated incident.
Mills didn’t have a plane ticket and told police he came to the airport to mail a letter.
It isn't a universal behavior among gay men. I couldn't hope to explain what draws certain people to it.
During my college years, a childhood friend admitted to doing this kind of thing. I tried to talk him out of that behavior but he was indignant. The friendship didn't last much longer.
IMO, he couldn't accept any risk of emotional investment in an actual relationship and this behavior gave him a "quick fix" while at the same time supporting his own self-discomfort with this degrading activity.
Shaking Hands with the Unemployed
It should come as no surprise that a men’s restroom at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport has become a playground for those who want to masturbate in public and have sex with men they don’t even know. After all, Atlanta is a hotbed of homosexual activity and public restrooms are favorite gathering places of many homosexuals.
But some may be surprised that, since December, police officers have arrested and charged 11 men with public indecency in the Atlanta airport. That is because there has been little talk about the arrests. And that, in turn, may have something to do with the fact that “Dirty Nearly Dozen” includes University of North Carolina Professor Dr. Hugh Tilson and Spelman College Professor Lev T. Mills.
It unsurprising to find out that Mills is a Professor of Art. Such departments attract some of the most far out non-conformists among us. But it is surprising to find out that Tilson is a Professor of Public Health. Before his arrest, I had always considered public masturbation to run contrary to the public health. But in the age of diversity, I’m becoming increasingly willing to reconsider some of my basic assumptions – some of which may be based on antiquated notions of morality.
And so today, I wish to extend an olive branch to Professor Tilson – and maybe even a fig leaf – in the hopes of bridging the gap between the so-called traditionalists and secular-progressives that seem so at odds in today’s cultural wars. I do so in the form of an offer to substitute in one of his public health classes while he takes the time to straighten out his legal affairs.
This Monday, I will travel to UNC-Chapel Hill to substitute for Tilson, giving this brief quiz as a means of generating discussion for the rest of the week:
1. The university has, in recent years, placed a high premium on making students feel “comfortable” in a university setting. How comfortable do you feel taking a class from a public masturbator?
2. Next month, the university will sponsor “The Vagina Monologues.” On a scale of one to ten, how badly would you like to see a film called “The Angina Monologues,” which chronicles a man’s recovery from a heart attack induced by seeing another man masturbating in an airport restroom?
3. An Atlanta TV station recently reported that no public masturbator had yet sexually assaulted anyone in an Atlanta Airport. But some were watching small children urinate in order to become sexually aroused. If a small child had been aware of this, was he not a victim of assault?
4. What are the public health benefits to be derived from ejaculating on the floor of a public restroom?
5. What are the public health benefits to be derived from impersonal sex?
The arrest of a part-time UNC faculty member last week in an Atlanta airport was part of a month-long investigation by police.
Hugh Tilson, a researcher in the School of Public Health, was arrested Jan. 16 in a restroom at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport after an undercover police officer caught him masturbating at a urinal. He was charged with public indecency.
The arrest of Tilson was one of 12 made by undercover police officers for indecent exposure during the investigation.
B.C. Williams, detective sergeant for the Atlanta Police Department said regular restroom checks prompted the need for further investigation regarding indecent exposure.
"It arrived out of another ongoing practice, which involves checking the restrooms for abandoned or stolen luggage as a matter of routine procedure," he said.
Tilson works primarily as an epidemiologist. He is considered influential in the field of public health.
He also administers the Public Health Grand Rounds program, which is funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He was in Atlanta last week for a senior leadership retreat.
The University issued a statement Monday saying the charges are being taken seriously.
"We think it is important to let the Georgia judicial system resolve the case," the statement reads.
Joe Templeton, faculty chairman, said it's not known how University officials will respond to the issue.
"When you're charged with something, it's a charge - the response to that varies widely depending on the situation," he said.
Templeton said he does not know enough details to comment further.
Once the restroom problem was identified, further Internet research revealed the airport as a meeting place for homosexual activity, Williams said.
"After the first incident, we became aware that there were Web sites that have locations, not just the airport, but throughout all cities, where this type of activity goes on," he said.
Williams said the investigation has been successful thus far, and he hopes it represents one more step in keeping the airport safe.
"The restrooms are visited by a bunch of different folks and travelers of all ages," Williams said. "The last thing I want is for a child to walk in the restroom while that type of activity is going on."
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