Florida representative charged with peddling oral sex

Florida state representative Bob Allen held a tearful press conference after being arrested and charged with peddling oral sex for $20 to an undercover officer, the Orlando Sentinel reports.

Bob Allen, a married Republican from Merritt Island, was charged with solicitation to commit prostitution. He was later released after posting $500 bail.

"I am filing a not guilty plea," Allen said at a press conference Thursday. "I am going to vigorously fight this. I am not resigning my office, because the people who elected me want me to do a good job, and I am going to do a good job for them in finishing this term.... This is an ugly and unpleasant situation that has been thrust on me and my family. It is not true. It is inaccurate, and therefore [I'm] not guilty, and I will be standing strongly for that."

Allen and his attorney did not take questions from the press and urged members of the media to be accurate in following the case.

"People tend to take the fast news and make fast conclusions,” Allen said. “I would ask people not to jump to any conclusions on this and to be fair and slow down and look at it."

Allen is also cochair for the John McCain presidential campaign in Florida. The McCain campaign could not be reached for comment.

He was first elected to the Florida house in 2000 and is currently chairman of the house committee on energy. In March, Allen cosponsored HB269, the Lewdness and Indecent Exposure Bill, which outlined enhanced penalties for “offenses involving unnatural and lascivious acts or exposure or exhibition of sexual organs committed within specified distance of certain locations." The bill would also have authorized warrantless arrest for specified violations. The measure, however, never made it to a vote.

Allen also signed a resolution, adopted in April, that encourages educating parents and children about the dangers of sexual solicitation and abuse.

About six years ago, he was one of 21 Florida legislators to sign Gov. Jeb Bush's friend-of-the-court brief supporting the state's ban on gays adopting children, Rainbow Democratic Club secretary Carol Bartsch told Gay.com.

The ACLU had sued to challenge the ban, which is still on Florida's books.

"Practically as soon as he got into office, he wanted to go on record as being antigay," said Bartsch, whose Orlando-based club gave him its worst possible rating.

Local police were on burglary detail at Veteran’s Memorial Park in Titusville, Fla.—about 40 miles east of Orlando—when they noticed a suspicious man, walking in and out of the public bathroom. An undercover officer went into a bathroom stall, and moments later Allen approached the stall and offered to perform oral sex on the officer in exchange for $20, according to the report.

The officer took Allen into custody after identifying himself. Police lieutenant Todd Hutchinson told the press that Allen did not mention that he was a state legislator until after he was arrested.

According to the Sentinel, Allen, who has a teenage daughter, was a Little League volunteer and has donated time to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida. (The Advocate)