The Park Sex Sting

David Feige brings us this "astonishing" story about the Columbus, Ohio PD using bait to catch men who are willing to expose themselves in a public park. A topless woman woman hangs out in the park until a guy comes up to talk to her. She chats him up, gives him some IOIs, and asks to see his penis. When he complies, the police arrest him.

Here in Houston the vice cops are practiced at using bait to catch men who are willing to expose themselves in public parks. A male cop will behave the way that (according to his training and experience) gay men cruising for sex do. He chats a man up, gives him some IOIs, feigns masturbation, and, when the man rises to the bait and exposes himself, arrests the man for indecent exposure, which, in Texas, requires only that a person expose himself in a public place with the intent to sexually arouse or gratify himself or another. (See an account of the trial of one such case within this post.)

To me, the most astonishing part of the Columbus story is that the police there target straight men in the parks. I have never heard of that happening here in Houston.