Long Beach PD in hot water for gay sex stings

by Austin Stallings
Journalism Intern

A Los Angeles County judge strongly criticized the Long Beach Police Department’s practice of conducting sting operations against gay men cruising for companionship, saying the policy was “indicative of animus towards homosexuals.”

Judge Halim Dhanidina made the comments in Long Beach before invalidating the arrest of Rory Moroney for lewd conduct and indecent exposure.

Moroney was arrested in a bathroom at Recreation Park in October 2014 after exposing himself to an undercover Long Beach police detective, said Bruce Nickerson, the man’s attourney.

The ruling came as a relief to Moroney, and as the judge finished reading his verdict, he burst in to tears of joy.

"It was really hard to ... come out and be the voice, but I had to do it because I believe that Long Beach is discriminating against gay men," he said outside of court.

Moroney would have had to register as a sex offender if convicted.

Dhanidina said a review of evidence showed that Long Beach's vice unit engaged in discriminatory practices because the squad uses only male officers as undercover decoys in lewd conduct stings. Several officers who testified at an evidentiary hearing earlier this month all said they had a arrested only male suspects for lewd conduct in their time working as vice officers, according to the judge.

According to the LA Times, Dhanidina rejected prosecutors' arguments that Long Beach based its policing tactics on citizen complaints about lewd conduct, saying that the agency provided little to no evidence of citizen complaints about such conduct at men's public restrooms where the bulk of the stings took place.

The department "intentionally targeted men who engaged in homosexual sex," the judge said.

Long Beach police said they would comment on the ruling later Friday.

The Gayly- 4/29/16 @ 4:45 p.m CDT