Tyco
10-03-2007, 05:10 PM
http://www.bangornews.com/news/t/news.aspx?articleid=154887&zoneid=500
Cruising for sex in Acadia targeted
By Bill Trotter
Tuesday, October 2, 2007 - Bangor Daily News
ACADIA NATIONAL PARK - Naked people is not one of the things that most people come to Maine’s only national park to see, but public nudity in the park has been known to happen from time to time, many local residents and park officials readily admit.
It is not just the nudists — or naturists, as they often are called — who seek out certain areas of the park to swim, sunbathe, or just hang out that draw the attention of park officials, however. Park rangers have filed criminal charges against people who have been caught allegedly exposing themselves and either soliciting or engaging in sex.
Last week, a park ranger came across two men allegedly having oral sex at Lake Wood, a popular park-owned swimming site off Crooked Road near Hulls Cove that has a reputation as a place where people swim in the buff. They both were charged with disorderly conduct, according to Park Ranger Kevin Cochary.
Lake Wood and Thompson Island, a small chunk of land that connects Route 3 on MDI to the mainland, are places where rangers have investigated multiple complaints of men soliciting each other for sex, Cochary said. A few weeks ago, a third man was issued a summons for disorderly conduct after he allegedly tried to solicit sex by exposing himself to a plainclothes ranger at Thompson Island, he said.
Rangers have stepped up patrols recently and seem to have reduced the amount of cruising for sex that occurs at these places, the ranger said.
"We are aware there is activity both at Lake Wood and Thompson Island," Cochary said. "Some of the problems at Lake Wood have been decreasing because of the extra efforts we’ve been making."
There is a public restroom at Thompson Island, but Cochary said this is not necessarily where the liaisons take place. Sometimes strangers make contact in one of the small island’s parking lots and sometimes they go off into the nearby woods, he said.
An Internet search of the words "Lake Wood" and "Acadia" quickly turns up two Web sites, one of which is owned by the Boston Globe, that list Lake Wood as one of the best places in the region to go for a nude swim. The search results also include a reference to Lake Wood at www.******.com, which lists the pond as a place to cruise for sex.
But Cochary emphasized that despite what any Web site or list might indicate, public nudity or sexual activity is not permitted or tolerated anywhere in Acadia.
"It is illegal. We don’t allow it," he said.
Hiking, bicycling, swimming in bathing suits, and other widely accepted family friendly activities are the kinds of things the park encourages, the ranger added.
The men charged Sept. 24 in the Lake Wood incident are Tobin Fitch, 29, of Trenton, and Brent Lawyer, 46, of Chicago, according to Cochary. The man accused of exposing himself on Sept. 16 at Thompson Island is Dominick Coyne, 48, of Mount Desert, Cochary said.
Cruising for sex in Acadia targeted
By Bill Trotter
Tuesday, October 2, 2007 - Bangor Daily News
ACADIA NATIONAL PARK - Naked people is not one of the things that most people come to Maine’s only national park to see, but public nudity in the park has been known to happen from time to time, many local residents and park officials readily admit.
It is not just the nudists — or naturists, as they often are called — who seek out certain areas of the park to swim, sunbathe, or just hang out that draw the attention of park officials, however. Park rangers have filed criminal charges against people who have been caught allegedly exposing themselves and either soliciting or engaging in sex.
Last week, a park ranger came across two men allegedly having oral sex at Lake Wood, a popular park-owned swimming site off Crooked Road near Hulls Cove that has a reputation as a place where people swim in the buff. They both were charged with disorderly conduct, according to Park Ranger Kevin Cochary.
Lake Wood and Thompson Island, a small chunk of land that connects Route 3 on MDI to the mainland, are places where rangers have investigated multiple complaints of men soliciting each other for sex, Cochary said. A few weeks ago, a third man was issued a summons for disorderly conduct after he allegedly tried to solicit sex by exposing himself to a plainclothes ranger at Thompson Island, he said.
Rangers have stepped up patrols recently and seem to have reduced the amount of cruising for sex that occurs at these places, the ranger said.
"We are aware there is activity both at Lake Wood and Thompson Island," Cochary said. "Some of the problems at Lake Wood have been decreasing because of the extra efforts we’ve been making."
There is a public restroom at Thompson Island, but Cochary said this is not necessarily where the liaisons take place. Sometimes strangers make contact in one of the small island’s parking lots and sometimes they go off into the nearby woods, he said.
An Internet search of the words "Lake Wood" and "Acadia" quickly turns up two Web sites, one of which is owned by the Boston Globe, that list Lake Wood as one of the best places in the region to go for a nude swim. The search results also include a reference to Lake Wood at www.******.com, which lists the pond as a place to cruise for sex.
But Cochary emphasized that despite what any Web site or list might indicate, public nudity or sexual activity is not permitted or tolerated anywhere in Acadia.
"It is illegal. We don’t allow it," he said.
Hiking, bicycling, swimming in bathing suits, and other widely accepted family friendly activities are the kinds of things the park encourages, the ranger added.
The men charged Sept. 24 in the Lake Wood incident are Tobin Fitch, 29, of Trenton, and Brent Lawyer, 46, of Chicago, according to Cochary. The man accused of exposing himself on Sept. 16 at Thompson Island is Dominick Coyne, 48, of Mount Desert, Cochary said.