Posted on 02/05/2003 10:16:43 AM PST by Inspectorette
10 men arrested for alleged lewd acts
2/5/03
By DAWN HOBBS
NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Using a male officer as a decoy, the Sheriff's Department is cracking down on suspected lewd homosexual activity on the bluffs above Bates Beach near Carpinteria.
In the past two days, 10 men were arrested on suspicion of engaging in lewd acts and booked into Santa Barbara County Jail in lieu of $2,500 bail each.
As part of the undercover operation, a deputy dressed in shorts and a T-shirt would hang around on the bluffs just outside the parking lot of nearby Rincon Beach Park and would wait for men to approach him, authorities said.
The men would frequently engage in small talk about the weather or the scenery and then begin to touch the deputy, authorities said.
"There's been physical contact in each one of these arrests," said Sgt. Phil Willis. "This area has a long history of having these types of issues. But we haven't gotten any complaints. We're just taking a proactive approach."
For years, nude sunbathers have frequented Bates Beach and the surrounding bluffs. But authorities say they don't issue citations for public nudity unless someone complains.
"Nude versus lewd is completely different," said Sgt. Willis. "This is a completely different crime. It's in a whole different category because there's physical contact."
In the arrests this week, the majority of the men were from Carpinteria, Santa Barbara or Ventura. One was from Manhattan Beach.
"Apparently this location had been posted on a gay Web site at least a year ago as a place for people to congregate for this type of activity," Sgt. Willis said.
Deputies arrested three men on Sunday and seven on Monday. On Tuesday afternoon, they spotted two men going into the bushes together.
"One stated he was just going in to see some squirrels," Sgt. Willis said. "The other didn't have a reason."
More likely their going in the bushes to "chase bugs"
sick...sick...sick.
That conjures up a horrible mental picture.
What the !? is there 'Hazard Pay' for this?!
The men would frequently engage in small talk about the weather or the scenery and then begin to touch the deputy, authorities said.
Talk about taking one for the team! Can you imagine the abuse this guys gets in the office?
By chance, were any of these squirrels named Lemmiwinks?
I'll be here all week!
Does anyone else have a problem with this statement?
I find homosexual behavior just as repulsive as the next person, but what did they do wrong? What law did they break? The article doesn't say they were nude and thereby breaking nudity laws. It doesn't say they were trespassing. It doesn't say they forced themselves on the deputy. In fact, I'm sure the deputy seduced them. How is this any different than a guy picking up a girl in a bar?
Like I said, I abhor the gay lifestyle, but what business do the police have messing with these people if nobody has complained and they've done nothing illegal?
You don't like my post because in this case the cops targeted an activity you don't condone. What are you going to do when they target an activity you happen to like? We're on a very slippery slope when we start letting the cops do whatever the hell they want to!
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