In July, Bob Allen, a Florida state legislator who is married and has a child, was arrested in a park restroom near Titusville for soliciting sex for money from an undercover cop.
The bust went down like this:
The undercover police officer gave evidence that Allen twice peered over the top of a toilet cubicle he was occupying, then entered the cubicle.
They discussed payment for oral sex, but Allen was concerned the park toilet was too public.
As Allen then indicated to the police officer to follow him outside to his car, he was arrested.
After his arrest, Allen resigned as a state chair for presidential campaign of John McCain but vowed not to give up his seat in the legislature.
Elected in 2000, Rep. Allen has voting record of a fervent rightwing ideologue:
Representative Allen had sponsored a failed bill in the Florida statehouse earlier this year, the Lewdness and Indecent Exposure Bill, designed to increase the penalties for committing “unnatural and lascivious acts or exposure or exhibition of sexual organs committed within specified distance of certain locations.”
Since his election … he has been one of the most homophobic politicians in the Florida state senate.
He received the title of “Wicked Witch,” which is reserved for “The Worst of the Worst,” from Florida’s Rainbow Democratic Gay & Lesbian organization.
And:
Between 2003 and 2006 Allen voted with the Christian Coalition over 90 percent of the time. Allen has been endorsed by the Florida Right to Life Committee and this year he voted to impose a 24-hour waiting period on third-trimester abortions.
Allen serves on the House Agriculture & Environment Appropriations Committee, Environmental Regulation Committee, State Infrastructure Council and the Utilities & Telecommunications Committee. He is chairman of the Spaceport & Technology Committee.
On his House web page, Allen’s listed recreational interest is “water sports.”
After he was released on bail, Allen offered a seris of implausible explanations as varied “just checking the bathroom three times because I helped secure funding for the park” to “I was afraid of the guy because he’s black and everyone knows black people are dangerous.”
At his trial in November, the jury found Allen to be guilty. According to a news account, “The jury deliberated three hours and 20 minutes. After jurors filed out, Allen reached back into the gallery to touch his wife’s hand. She sat behind him Friday, as she had all week.”
