The seven-year legislator and co-chairman of U.S. Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign was arrested on July 11 on charges that he had offered $20 to an undercover officer in order to perform oral sex on him.
Plainclothes Danny Kavanaugh said that he was staking out an alleged burglary in a condo near the park with other undercover officers when Allen approached him. Allen subsequently was arrested outside a public restroom in the Titusville, Fla., area park and then later released on $500 bail.
According to Kavanaugh, Allen spotted the officers and went in and out of the restroom several times, until the officer asked his supervisor if he could investigate Allen’s behavior.
At the time of his arrest, Allen claimed that he had washed his hands to find the towel dispenser empty. At that point, he entered the disabled stall to dry his hands and encountered Kavanaugh.
At some point, the officer told Allen, “I’m looking to get some money. Can you hook me up with $20?”
Allen allegedly replied, “Sure, I can do that, but this place is too public.”
The pair walked from the restroom to Allen’s car, and the officer testified it was at that time that Allen indicated he would like the undercover officer to perform oral sex on him, in exchange for the money. The officer made the arrest when they walked to Allen’s vehicle.
During the trial, defense attorneys claimed that Allen thought he was being robbed and so along with what the undercover officer told him to do, waiting for a point where he could make a getaway.
The trial took longer than expected, with jury selection taking several days due to the heavy publicity associated with the arrest. The jury deliberated for little over three hours and 20 minutes before bringing back a guilty verdict.
Allen has been sentenced to six months’ probation and a fine of $250. He must also undergo STD testing and is restricted from returning to the park.
A representative since 2000, Allen had sponsored legislation with tougher penalties for lewd or lascivious conduct and created a new provision allowing some sexual predators to receive life sentences. Allen had dubbed the bill the “Sexual Predator Elimination Act.”
“I am innocent and I've done nothing wrong,” Allen said after the verdict. “My family, my God and my good constituents know that and we are not going to stop until we get that justice.”
Bathroom sex scandals have been a sensitive topic since August, when Sen. Larry Craig was allegedly caught soliciting an undercover officer for sex in Minneapolis airport public bathroom, and brought attention to the underground world of cruising for sex in public locations.
At that time, CruisingForSex.com owner Keith Griffith told XBIZ, “We have a database that we’ve been collecting for 11 years of listings from all over the world. I would imagine that we cover every corner of the globe and there are tens of thousands of places listed,” Griffith said.
CruisingForSex.com is a gay adult portal that has social networking features that includes classified ads and information about cruising.
“This is not some sort of odd event or fluke — this is everyday life. The very toilet that he was arrested in is listed on Cruising For Sex by our users and been flagged several times since December because of a sting operation that has been going on there. There were 40 men arrested in that toilet.”