OKLAHOMA CITY – Police said they have made a big time bust at a local Oklahoma City park.
Over the last four days, Oklahoma City police arrested dozens of men accused of committing lewd acts at Hobie Point, located on the south side of Lake Hefner.
In all, 34 suspects were arrested and accused of engaging in a lewd act in public.
The offenders range in age from 26 to 78 years old.
The thick woods on the south side of the lake has been a hot spot for alleged sexual crimes for years.
Bill Bond said, “It’s something we would like to see cleaned up.”
Bond has run the sailing club at Hobie Point for years.
Last week, a father and two sons finished sailing and noticed two men engaged in sexual acts.
A complaint to police sparked the massive bust.
Brian Bates said, “These are places where a lot of deviant acts are going on.”
Bates says Hobie Point has been a notorious spot for illegal sex acts for decades.
One suspect, Romeo Taguinod, worked as a jailer in Oklahoma County before being fired this week.
Another, Earnest Hall, told officers he is a high school coach in Stillwater.
We talked with Stillwater school officials who said he is not an employee and they have no recollection of him ever working there.
Yankston Jesko works at the Oklahoma State Health Department.
Guy Powell works at Southwest Youth and Family, a children’s shelter in Chickasha.
The youngest suspects are 26-year-old Todd Hand and Ira Cruther.
The oldest is 78-year-old Kenneth Carmin.
Bates said, “We have people living on the streets to those living in mansions, but they all converge on this one area for one simple thing.”
Unfortunately, some doubt the sting will make any difference stopping men from frequenting the area looking for sex, until the penalties are tougher.
Bond said, “For some reason our city doesn’t think it’s that big of a deal to prosecute when there are kids and families.”
Two of the suspects were also busted for drug possession charges.
One had a prior felony warrant.
In all the suspects were fined more than $43,000.
