Police: 9 Arrested In Men's Bathroom Sex Sting At Central Florida Mall (Foot-tappers)

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. -- A group of men, including a former candidate for mayor and a high school teacher, was arrested on charges they performed sex acts or exposed themselves in a Central Florida mall bathroom, according to police.

Investigators said nine men were arrested Thursday night in a Sears department store men's room located in the Volusia Mall. "These men would go into the men's room and they would tap their feet, zip their zipper, make all kinds of noises and even reach under the stall," Daytona Beach Police Chief Mike Chitwood said.

The men arrested included SeaBreeze High School health teacher David Behringer and former city Commissioner Mike Shallow.

"The undercover officer told me he actually tried to come under the stall, where he was actually looking up at the undercover officer while he was performing his act," Chitwood said. A 70-year-old man was also arrested during the 10-hour sex sting, police said.

"The bothering thing is that you are coming up on the Christmas season, so you are out there shopping in the mall and your kid wants to run to the bathroom, you have a bunch of sick, degenerate, vile perverts in there doing their thing," Chitwood said. Officers said the sting was prompted by tips from mall security.

"Of course, everybody denies, (and says) 'It wasn't us,'" Chitwood said. "We certainly didn't go there and entice anybody, and we didn't put an ad out."

“...exposed themselves in a Central Florida mall bathroom.”

Reminds me of the winos who are forced to buy single bottles in a brown paper sack before they can carry them out of the store.

Maybe it would be easier to just put metal skirts on the urinals and stalls.

“they would tap their feet, zip their zipper, make all kinds of noises and even reach under the stall...”

Remind me not to tap my feet, zip my zipper, or make noises in a public rest room. Hopefully, they’ve got some better evidence than this, but I would not count on it.

From the article:

"The undercover officer told me he actually tried to come under the stall, where he was actually looking up at the undercover officer while he was performing his act," Chitwood said. A 70-year-old man was also arrested during the 10-hour sex sting, police said.

It seems to me that they had plenty of solid evidence.

I'm not going to worry about doing such things because I know that I will never do them in such as way that it could possibly be confused with an effort at nonverbal communication.

Just as prisoners in Viet Cong prisons developed codes to tap so that they could communicate from one cell to another, this population has also learned a special code, although for completely disgusting and illegal purposes.

Fortunately the police has deciphered this special nonverbal code so that they will be able to keep us safe while differentiating the evil from the innocent.

“They will go anywhere where there is any slight chance of people, and preferably children, will be disrobing and vulnerable.”

The few homosexuals I’ve known have had no interest in children at all.

It's a subculture, but it's definitely out there as evidenced by news reports nearly every day. Be very thankful that you haven't knowingly come into contact with one.

Sounds like they might have gotten that guy, but they arrested 9 people in one night, which I find a little surprising. I am from Orlando, about 50 miles away. This is not San Francisco or even Minneapolis. It strains credulity that they caught 9 perps in one night at a local shopping mall restroom.

The local cops over there in Volusia have a reputation for doing some pretty aggressive police work, so if I were on the jury, I might be a bit skeptical. If the other 8 are innocent, that might even cast doubt on the one that seems like a slam dunk.

This is not San Francisco or even Minneapolis. It strains credulity that they caught 9 perps in one night at a local shopping mall restroom.

From csvset's excellent update featuring a much more complete article at post #43:

Further investigation by police found that encounters at local places like Sears were advertised online on Web sites like Craigslist and one that provides links to other sexually explicit sites, Chitwood said.

"This is a clandestine, subculture event," Chitwood said at a Thursday night press conference. "There's a whole culture that runs under the radar doing their thing."

Sadly, these trash are spoiling the environment in places that were previously unknown for large-scale perversion....probably because they watch the news too and go to places where they think they will not be expected.

From what I've seen in the articles so far, the police are using accepted investigational methods that have been long held as being supported by the law. The jury will also be presented with considerably more information than what is being released to the Press....probably including some pretty disgusting audio recordings.

I'm glad that I have no chance of being selected for that particular jury, but this sort of thing is happening everywhere, unfortunately. These pervs think that they can skate under the radar, but fortunately the police are onto most of their little tricks.

Well, if they were really guilty, I’m sure they will have the goods on them.

I have no doubt that there will be considerable compelling evidence. The police aren't interested in wasting their time and risking lawsuits over such sensitive matters.....having such cases thrown out of court due to a lack of evidence could jeopardize the community's safety by returning this trash to their favored 'lifestyle' but in an even more devious and underground way....no officer wants that.

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Police: 9 Arrested In Men's Bathroom Sex Sting At Central Florida Mall

Men Would Tap Feet, Zip Zippers Before Acts, Chief Says