Seven men arrested for sexual indecency in latest 'sting'
Seven people were arrested on suspicion of public sexual indecency Tuesday and Wednesday in the latest Faulkner County Sheriff's Office "sting" operation at Toad Suck Park.
As in previous operations at the park, and at Cadron Settlement Park before it, undercover FCSO personnel act as "bait," waiting to see if someone offers to perform sexual favors in the park.
The Faulkner County Sheriff's Office set up a sting at the Toad Suck Park in hopes to crack down on the recent shift to the park of indecent exposure crimes since Cadron Settlement Park became a Conway city park. LIBERTY PARKS PHOTO
Most of the actual sexual activity goes on in public bathrooms, according to Maj. Andy Shock of FCSO. Shock said that so far, no one has reported that their child has walked into one of these bathrooms to see something that may scar them for life, "but we get plenty of calls from people saying 'hey, there's these two guys going into a bathroom and they've been in there a long time.'
"Actually, one of our deputies was out there with her daughter, just enjoying the park, and it was obvious enough to her child, at seven years old, who said, 'momma, what are all these men doing out here?'" Shock added.
The first arrest made at noon Wednesday was typical of the operation. A man parked his truck and sat down to eat his lunch at a picnic table near where an undercover officer was sitting. The man walked over and started a conversation with the officer that seemed normal until the man "said he was looking for a change and wanted some 'male companionship,'" the undercover officer said.
The officer accepted the man's offer to go into a public bathroom for sex. The man dropped his trousers and the officer produced his badge.
Shock said he feels sorry for some of the men arrested in FCSO's "sting" operations. The man arrested Wednesday said he had a wife and three children and a good job, Shock said, but he told deputies he wasn't so sure he'd be able to talk his wife into staying with him. It's sad, Shock said, but some of the men were arrested after exposing themselves "100 or 125 yards from where kids were swinging in a swingset, and I have no sympathy for that kind of behavior whatsoever."
As for the man's job, his employer said that if the charges are true, "he's toast."
Shock said the operation was again a success in that several arrests were made, sending a message to the park's unsavory element that it is not a safe place to go for public sex. The greater mission, he said, will be a success when deputies spend several days on future operations at Toad Suck Park and don't find anyone to arrest.
"Our whole objective is to clean it up so families can come and let their children play without being at risk of seeing people engaging in this type of behavior," Shock said.
Shock encouraged anyone who thinks someone at the park is there for sexual encounters to call FCSO at 450-4914.
"We can't arrest someone for standing around," Shock said, but a patrol car will be sent as soon as possible to provide a law enforcement presence that, hopefully, would encourage anyone at the park looking for a sexual encounter to look elsewhere.
FCSO plans several more "sting" operations at the park throughout the year.