Man arrested in park wants to warn others to avoid the situation that he says has ruined his life
DAVID TAFFET | Staff Writer
taffet@dallasvoice.com
Bill was arrested in the park outside the Dallas Theater Center for indecent exposure on Nov. 6, 2009. He believes the incident was entrapment and wants to warn others to avoid getting into a similar situation.
Attorney John Loza, who has handled a number of similar cases, explained that while this story sounds like entrapment, from a legal standpoint, the police did nothing wrong.
“Texas courts have a tradition of being very lenient about what an officer can do,” Loza said.
Bill asked that his real identity not be revealed for this story. He has children and has been unable to find a job since his arrest. The incident, he said, left him depressed and suicidal.
“I wasn’t aware they could do what they did,” Bill said.
What a police officer did, Bill said, was approach his car and then spend 45 minutes trying to entice Bill into making a sexual advance before arresting him. Bill said he never left his car.
Bill was living in Oklahoma at the time, and had come to Dallas for a doctor’s appointment after an accident the previous week. His car had been totaled in the accident, and that morning, he picked up a new one from a Toyota dealership in Lewisville.
Then Bill drove down to Oak Lawn where he was staying with a friend.
On the way, Bill stopped at a fast-food restaurant on Lemmon Avenue and picked up lunch. Then he drove to the park at the Dallas Theater Center to eat.
It was then, he said, that a hunky man in a Suburban approached him.
“This Hispanic guy pulled up next to me and he was smiling at me,” Bill said. “Then he asked me, ‘Would you like some company?’”
He asked Bill if he was alone. Bill said he was just having lunch.
He asked what Bill liked to do.
“Well what do you mean?” he said he asked the man.
Bill said the man said he liked to give blowjobs and he asked if Bill had “a big dick.”
Bill said his answers were short and standoffish, but the man persisted.
At one point, Bill said, he even told the man, “If you want that, I’m not the person.”
When another car pulled up near him, the man in the Suburban asked if he knew who that was. Bill said he didn’t.
The man suggested they go somewhere else more private, so they drove to the other side of the park.
Bill said, “We were 45 minutes into this and he just kept egging me on.”
Throughout the flirtation, Bill noticed the man in his car doing something in his lap. But since Bill was in a smaller car, he couldn’t see into the Suburban. He said it looked like the man was playing with himself.
Instead, Bill found out later, the man was a police officer and was texting his partner, who was hidden nearby.
At the man’s urging, Bill said he finally exposed himself. He said he didn’t realize what was happening at first when another man appeared from nowhere and placed him under arrest.
Bill said that the officer who had been coming on to him for almost an hour just hung his head.
Bill was charged with a Class B misdemeanor and pleaded no contest. There was no trial because that would have cost money that Bill said he didn’t have. The officer did not show up in court and Bill was given little opportunity to defend himself.
He said the police report had a number of facts wrong.
The police report said Bill motioned for the other man to come over. But Bill said that was false, adding that he was eating lunch when the officer approached him.
The report said Bill was masturbating and three cars passed by. But, Bill said, “There were no other cars there,” Bill said.
And, Bill said, he wasn’t masturbating and he only exposed himself, after 45 minutes of talking, when the other man — the police officer — told him to.
Bill isn’t speaking out now in hopes of avoiding charges or punishment. He has already been convicted and sentenced, and he has completed his sentence.
Instead, he said, he is speaking out now because “I just don’t want this to happen to anyone else. I wasn’t aware they could do anything like this, to entrap me.”
Adam Seidel, the criminal lawyer who represented Chad Gibson in the Rainbow Lounge raid, said that under Texas law, this probably wasn’t considered entrapment.
Although he didn’t have all the facts in the case or see the police report, Seidel said that normally, the officer would have had to lure Bill to another location under false pretenses before the case would be considered entrapment.
Across the park to a more secluded spot wouldn’t meet that standard.
In court, Bill said the judge asked him one question that he wasn’t prepared to answer: “What are you going to do to stop this.”
Bill said he answered, “I’ll stay out of the parks.” But that, apparently, was not the answer the judge was looking for.
Bill said what he was trying to convey was that he would avoid the situation in the future. What he was told the judge wanted to hear was that he was already getting counseling to correct his perceived “problem.”
But Bill said it never occurred to him that he had a “problem.”
Loza said he advises his clients to begin counseling before going to court. He said there are several advantages to that.
The judge will probably require some form of therapy anyway. But if it is court ordered, the assigned counselor may not be gay friendly.
By beginning counseling before going to court, the person can choose to see someone in the LGBT community. A judge will rarely require the person switch to a different counselor, Loza said.
Also, when a judge asks that question Bill was unprepared to answer, the defendant can say, “I have already begun counseling.”
Bill said his attorney didn’t advise him to seek counseling and didn’t prepare him with an answer to that judge’s question.
Loza said that of all of the similar cases he’s defended, only two have gone to trial. One was heard in front of just a judge and the defendant lost.
A jury heard the other, and the defendant won.
The client in the jury trial testified that he was at the park hiking, something he did often. He thought the first officer was coming on to him and was repulsed by it.
But these officers were determined to arrest his client, Loza said.
The second officer spoke Spanish. His client thought the man was homeless. He felt sorry for him and was trying to help. He claimed he never made any sexual advance or groped either one.
In that case, only one of the two officers involved was called to testify. In speaking to the jury after winning his case, Loza said they were bothered by not having heard from the second officer; perceived entrapment, he said, was not the issue that exonerated his client.
Loza said that exposure is a Class B misdemeanor. Public lewdness that includes groping is a Class A misdemeanor. Even if a person received deferred adjudication, with two or more indecent exposure arrests that person could be compelled to register as a sex offender in Texas.
Other states are even stricter.
After his arrest, Bill returned home to Oklahoma. He said that he was told that he had five days to register as a sex offender even before his Texas case was heard.
He did not register and instead moved to Dallas.
Loza warned that this type of arrest is expensive.
“You will need a lawyer,” he said. “And it’s rare that you’re going to be eligible for a court-appointed attorney.”
Most people plead no contest and are given deferred adjudication but there are heavy costs along with that. Probation carries a fine, court costs, a probation fee and fees for therapy.
Bill was given a year’s probation and 24 hours of community service and was also required to attend group counseling for sex offenders. He could have been fined $2,000 and put in jail for 180 days.
He does not have to register as a sex offender. Two years after probation, he can petition the court to seal the record.
Bill has had a hard time finding a job in Dallas and Loza said that’s common after an arrest like this.
Two years after probation, Bill can petition the court to seal the record.
“But even if the record is sealed,” Loza said, “There are so many places where records go. It’s floating out there.”
Loza had advice for anyone in a park in Dallas:
“If someone starts rubbing himself or making sexual remarks — leave,” he said.
He said that the undercover cop is going to be persistent. That’s how the vice squad works.
“Don’t let it develop until something happens,” he said. “These vice squad officers go out of their way to be undetectable.”
Bill said that the police report contained false statements. Loza said that it’s up to the individual officer’s integrity how truthful to be on the report.
And when a park arrest case for indecent exposure or public lewdness comes to court, the judge and jury tend to listen to the police, whether they’ve been truthful or not, and whether they’ve explained the extent to which they’re responsible for the incident or not.
“I don’t think it’s their job to go to the park to drum up business,” Bill said. “I was vulnerable that day and they took advantage of me.”
This has happened thousands of times over the years in every state in the country. I’ve been told — and I believe the stories from the individuals who have told me — that vice squad officers, and even uniformed law enforcement officers sometimes participated in sexual activities, only to make an arrest afterwards. The bottom line is to never, ever do anything in a public place — especially a park. It’s always the police officer’s word that weighs most heavily in a courtroom. The situation really is so bad that I would recommend that no one even talk to a stranger in a public park. Actually, anyone who goes into a public park in Texas is probably in effect asking for trouble.
P.S. I mean any person going ALONE into a public park is probably asking for trouble of some sort.
Come on, give me a break. He just happened to be “eating lunch” in a spot that’s been notorious for years as a cruising spot. If it’s listed on the cruising websites, you better believe the police know it, too. Did he just happened to go to Club Dallas “to work out” as well?
If you want to see my “special purpose” then, rest assured, it is going to be in the privacy of a residence and NOT in the front seat of my car having just met you 45 minutes ago and “because you told me to do it”. There is not much dialogue out in the gay community about us “growing up” and acting like responsible adults. We are always the “victims” of some sort of “trap”. Why is it that lesbians NEVER get caught with their pants on the ground? Stop cruising public parks. There are plenty of places for gay men to find one another for an “encounter”.
At least the police are keeping us safe from harm. It’s not like there’s armed robbers walking the streets of Oak Lawn hurting people and taking their money, and their lives.
The same thing happened to me at the same park, except I was in an SUV and the police officer was in a smaller car where I could look down on him. It looked like he was masturbating, so I left. The next week he showed up at my residence with his partner telling me that a warrant for my arrest was being issued. I went to the court house before it was issued and payed $1500.00, when to court to see the judge and was given the same sentence. One year’s probation, community service and court ordered therapy. If you want to go to a good therapist, I recommend John Barry, in Oak Lawn. I also did not have to register as a sex offender. I fortunately had a job, so that was not in jeopardy. All of this happened in 03 or 04.
I’m sorry, but there is no excuse in this day in age to go get caught in a public park. There are so many ways to get laid if you don’t feel comfortable going to a bar. Look online, hell craigslist is quick and easy, and now your cell phone can tell you where all the guys around you are that also want to get laid. It’s called grinder! Gay men, wake up, this isn’t 1975, no one faults you for wanting to get your rocks off, but do it in your own home or go to a motel.
All vice officers involved in this activity are the one’s with psychological problems. They need to be committed to mental treatment as this is the only sexual excitement they can get. No “straight” man leads another man to the point of groping him or exposing themselves to him. This system is whacked. I’m sure the Judges get off on hearing every tiny detail of each case and go back to their chambers to “deliberate” (rather masturbate).
Having posted my rant, it is really stupid to go to public places for sex. Get a computer and hook up in private like everyone else.
I’m not sure why men are prone to cruising in parks for sex or where that comes from. I’m sure for some, the illicit nature of the activity adds some excitement and extra stimulation to the experience. know a lot of men are married or on the DL and have to do something undercover to find the stimulation they so greatly desire. I had a friend who was married to a woman and seeing me on the side. He would go looking for a quick “no strings” release and ended up getting busted in a FW-area park in much the same way as the man in this article. He lost his career and almost lost his family and home. He finally had to leave the state to overcome the fallout from our small community, our church, and the business world.“Logan” is right. Cruising parks and public areas—as titillating as it can be to some—is dangerous and irresponsible behavior—not unlike the scenario of a junkie going into the back alley to get a dimebag or a hit. I remember when I first discovered the opportunity as a young man of 18: I was confused, not out (didn’t know I could be) and had zero access to gay culture, gay life, or anyone gay. This scene—with quick and easy access to men and sex—was amazing. But there was absolutely no education or dialogue available to me (again, to “Logan’s” point) about how inherently dangerous the activity was (not to mention considerations about disease!). He’s right. Each of us has to be responsible for the consequences of not being more mature and finding ways for stimulation that do not break the law. “Entrapment” isn’t right but as my mamma used to say, “Now son, if ya play with fire, you’re gonna get ya ignorant ass burned.”[And … probably not even get off.]
That said, however, I’m forced to I wonder if we lived in a culture accepting of homosexuality, where we could be open and out and who we are, and we didn’t have to sneak around to get it, if much of this “park cruising” would disappear because men wouldn’t need to go there to find it. Yes, issues of a lack of integrity and the excitement of anonymous sex would still fuel the activity…but for many men, being able to live their true self would eliminate the reason to creep to such dangerous extremes.
Talk amongst yourselves. (But no touching.)
Back in the 70’s it creeped me out to do the public park thing. I met a man one time and could not force myself to do it in the park. So I took him home. It was all good but 2 weeks later I got the clap. Totally not woth it. If you are into the park thing just be careful. Hell turn on your phone recorder so you have proof. Then tell them not in a park or public place.
Maybe they should put a fence around the park, dedicate it as a gay cruising area and charge admission to go in it. This obviously would result in better control of what happens in the park. It could also provide funds for a park entertainment director’s salary.
To TDUB – thank you and well stated. I am certainly not casting any stones. I, myself, have dabbled in behavior that was questionable from time to time but that is when I was young and, well, stupid. This article is about a man with children – he should KNOW better. We all should. This type of behavior isn’t common among lesbians or even heterosexuals because most women would NOT do something like this. So why in the world, as gay men, do we think it’s acceptable for us to do this. And unless the person in question can see everywhere at every single moment how in the world does he know that someone else out there isn’t seeing him expose himself? I am all for all of my gay brothers (and sisters) having an active and fulfilling sex life. It does not need to be at a public venue. Get a room and you won’t get in trouble.
Poor excuse, never pull it out in public..
Why go to a park at all. We all the stories, etc. But what gets me is the story is that “Bill,” wants us to believe he wasn’t doing anything, then: “The man suggested they go somewhere else more private, so they drove to the other side of the park.” Bill then followed the guy!!! I would have driven off. AND after 45 minutes of talking, being bothered, by the police Bill did something he was not supposed to. 45 Min!!! If I don’t want to be bothered I don’t wait 45 mins. much les 45 seconds. But then I don’t do parks or cruise routes.
AND we all know that in Texas — the police are king. A jury and judge will always believe them because police are always honest and fair. yea right.
Any single male, by himself, in a public park, especially in a “quiet area”, can be suspect of many kinds of “unacceptable public behaviour” . . . whether as “wanting” or “seeking” . . . by motivatged law enforcement operatives. That “eyes of the beholder” thing! Of course, where there are “no witnesses” . . . just your words against the officers’ report. Even if you might desire to find a quiet place to eat your lunch in the park, find a place outside of your vehicle that is by a well-traveled public area. Then “zone out” those around you, somewhat. But if he’d found a piece of grass near the Katy Trail to eat his lunch, sitting on the ground, some females might have had something to complain about “being looked at” from that level. Best just to stay out of those secluded, quiet areas where you might enjoy the squirrels and such scampering through the trees . . . unless it’s you OWN 8′ privacy-fenced back yard. As neat as these inner-city areas might be, they can be “hot properties” for the vice squad patrols and stings. Drive by, think “That’s nice”, and drive on to a more public place with more people around . . . or eat at the restaurant. Most cell phones have a “record” and “video” feature on them. Make sure you have an extra- large memory card, too! Or perhaps a ‘911’ call to report a person making strange advances toward you, leaving the line open with the phone on the seat (as one cabbie did durring a robbery) . . . making your life feel “threatened” by his presence and activities.
This issue has been debated to death for years. We all know the vice squad regularly patrols the parks, the video arcades, the bath houses, etc., and that they will do anything to make an arrest. Still, people take the risk. And it’s not just people who might not be aware of what is going on. Some fairly prominent people in the LGBT community have been arrested over the years. It is a trap. Don’
t go. Unfortunately, I don’t think anyone is going to heed that advice, but it is a message that needs to be repeated frequently. Of course if people suddenly quit breaking the public indecency laws, just imagine the financial consequences for police officers, jail personnel, bail bonds people, lawyers, prosecutors, court clerks and judges. It might cause layoffs and other financial disasters. It makes you wonder if they really want it to stop.
LOL! Thank you DV for this laughable or speculative tale. LONG STORY SHORT – DUDE GOT EXACTLY WHAT WAS COMING TO HIM – THIS PARK IS PUBLIC AND SUBJECT TO SUCH ENFORCEMENT – ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR ACTIONS. Even working through the theory of these outlandish claims of the incognito-creature-feature coined ‘Bill’…WTH didn’t you just park outside of the fast food restaurant to get your grub on or drive elsewhere to finish chowing down. You truly expect even the mass of gullible gays to believe that you were coerced into showing your crown jewels (likely costume and nothing worth locking in a vault – yes a read). STOP WHINING – YOU TOOK THE RISK SO SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES!
I’m against public sex because: children may be in the park, it ruins the parks for everyone else who doesn’t want to see that kind of stuff, it makes the LGBT community look bad, and it give fuel to an excuse to the right wing to discriminate against the LGBT communinity.
However, one question I always have is why the police don’t simply carry an undercover camera and microphone and record the incident? They have cameras the size of an ink pen that can record audio and video for a couple of hours.
The fact that the cops are resistant to doing such casts doubts on their integrity and honestly. If all of their arrests are legitimate, then an ink pen camera video would surely prove it in a few seconds of video. Fry’s sells these camera for $79, so I’m not sure why they wouldn’t just buy them and use them.
This is very similar to the restroom arrests at the mall. A simple hand held video camera of people sticking body parts under the stall wall would prove it beyond doubt.
The pen-sized camera is a plausible concept. However, it may be best suited for a park-frequenter or activist that wants to document these allegations of cops entrapping or infringing upon the rights of these park visitors. If these alleged misues of the law are visually & audibly recorded, it may be lead to any necessary chastisement of Dallas law enforcement and eventual reform. All things considered, ‘Bill’ just seems like a park-troll without a bridge of truth in his defense.
If slipping in the part of this man not being able to find a job, having kids and totaling his car and having thoughts of suicide was an attempt to illicit an emotional response to feel bad for him, well it failed. I doubt this was his first time at the rodeo. Of all the places to “just eat lunch,” why did he go there? He knew the consequences of what would happen should he expose himself and he chose to do so. He could have very well started his car and drove away, but he didn’t. Accept the known consequences of your actions! If this incident ruined his like he has no one to blame but himself.
I’m guess I’m not surprised to see so many come down on “Bill”… and I would have liked to see the writer branch off and give state-wide statistics about these types of busts and the inherent risks of such dangerous, irresponsible behavior–which would border on editorial I guess.
I’m glad to see they included an excerpt of the law and call notice to the word “deviate.”
and I’m glad to know that sex with “fowl” is illegal. haha
that said…I think as a Community, we need to go further than “the man got what he deserved” or “the law is biased against us” and look at WHY do men feel compelled to do this in he first place, ergo my prior comment which I’m repeating here:
I’m forced to I wonder if we lived in a culture accepting of homosexuality (and our “deviate behaviors), where we could be open and out and who we are, and we didn’t have to sneak around to get it, if much of this “park cruising” would disappear because men wouldn’t need to go there to find it. Yes, issues of a lack of integrity and the excitement of anonymous sex would still fuel the activity…but for many men, being able to live their true self would eliminate the reason to creep to such dangerous extremes.
Just the running of this article provides the general public with a another stereotype of how gay men act. Not all gay men cruise parks or other places. I would say a 99% do not. This article is not news especially for the front page for everyone (straights) to see. It gives them more of a reason to look down on us, segregate us and to say we in general are sexual deviates. Dallas Voice…this was a very poor choice of content to include in your paper.
I’m sorry to report to Gary that John Barry the counselor recommended for court ordered therapy is now deceased. He passed away unexpectedly in February. You may want to contact Carolyn Solisof Turtle Creek Mental Health to inquire who took over his cases.
I must admit that I am somewhat surprised at the responses that this article has received. I think that this being the cover story of the paper, just my take, was meant to illicit a “look how our community is being attacked” mentality. Having been in the gay community for quite a few years I would have expected that approach. I am pleased to see that there is a strong mindset from my fellow gay and/or lesbian brothers and sisters out there who, when confronted with something that screams inappropriate, are willing to stand up and say…yeah well that’s inappropriate. Just good to read.
This only proves what I (and others) have known about the DPD all along. They are woefully inept at what they do. In order to maintain their “statistics” it becomes necessary to entrap, arrest and take down innocent people. The real criminals are too sophisticated for them, and the department itself is too incompetent to keep them at bay. So what happens? Innocent people pay for crimes they did not commit, and the real criminals are still on the streets. If our city leaders want to eliminate the city’s budget deficit, abolishing the DPD would be a good place to start. Expenses would be eliminated, crime would decline, taxes could be lowered and Dallas would be a much better place as a result.
This has nothing to do with the story itself, but I do miss the old format of the front page of The Voice. Headlines and 3 or 4 stories looked more like a traditional newspaper format. The current full page art for ONE story, looks more like the Observer. I see the Observer as more of a collection of ads, rather than a source for news. I love the Voice, this is just a gentle reader’s observaton.
Thanks!
Well I felt sorry for the guy till “they” went some where else in the park, if the dog barks it will want to bite.
But only if your there to bark at. But I bet the cop is gay him self, or at least bi. Me I have trapped a few my self, I knew it was a cop, and I called the police on him stating he was making unwanted sexual advance toward me. And I wanted to press charges, I went back to that park for months to do the very thing to them they tried on me. Finally they left every time I showed up, then the fun began lol
Can’t one go to this park, rig one’s car with a video camera, entrap an undercover cop and then press public indecency charges against this cop based on the recording?
From the description of the scene, it sounds as if the cop himself crossed the line of what’s legal in a public park.
It was pointed out to me that the locale of this particular “bust” is a known “area” and has been for many years. Therefore, a good place for a “sting”.
It would be much easier to park a “video surveillance” police car in the area, not unlike many police depts do with “bait cars”, but use it as an enforcement tool to send “offenders” elsewhere. That would be too cost-effective and probably successful.
If the parks are supposed to be “safe” for all, might there be some scale put in place to know which parks are more likely to have young children in them during the day and after 10pm at night, with those areas receiving higher levels of vice squad policing? More kids likely near a playground area than on the backside of a secluded park area, I suspect. Using this orientation, the “money motivation” seems to become prevalent.
“Counselling”? That can be problematic, too, plus a set-up for future issues if the person is ever arrested for similar charges again.
If you’re going to start video taping and recording the actions of the police operatives, you’d better make sure there’s nothing they can arrest you for–either yourself or the vehicle you’re in. Make sure YOUR actions are totally above board and meet the “beyond a resasonable doubt” orientation. It might also be good to have your video authenticated as “not tampered with” before it’s presented. “Play SAFE”!
CD, with all due respect, your comments are the textbook answer to a non-textbook problem. What you suggest might work fine for the story line of a TV series, but what we’re dealing with in Dallas is a lawless, corrupt police department. They entrap innocent people. They plant false evidence. They conjure up cases. All because they are either unwilling or unable to nab the real criminals. When you have an entire police force of liars, thieves and renegades to fight, then the victim is left with no other choice except to pursue the most favorable terms of “surrender” possible.
Did /would have Bill deprived anyone of life,liberty, limb, or property? The answer to that is a big fat NO! Yet while these thug officers were engaged in this “sting” real criminals were harming others. Why is this an acceptable use of taxpayer dollars? If you have ever been a victim of a real crime, you should be outraged enough to vote out any police administration that misappropriates funds in this way. For the self-hating gays turning their noses up in the comments and condemning any homosexual male who might have sex outdoors, I would bet that a more than fair percentage of the human population has been conceived out of doors. Why do you think a drink called”sex on the beach” once became popular? Not because gays were the ones having sex on the beach! Keep supporting Puritan attitudes that only make all of our lives difficult. Good for you…you can say you are better than someone else…regardless of whether “Bill” knew of the risk he was taking or not, making him virtually unemployable does no good for society, especially if he is a skilled worker. Meanwhile, people are victimized in real crimes, and society is tangibly harmed as a result. Keep it up self-haters! Before you know it they’ll be breaking down your rainbow-flagged doors cuz they just “know” your doing something illegal in there! and it will be the “fag’s” word against theirs… Hope you’ll be proud of yourself then.