Judge rules Long Beach Police illegally targeted gay men in sex sting operation

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge ruled against the Long Beach Police Department in a case where officers were accused of discriminating against gay men by ensnaring them in a homophobic sex sting operation.

Rory Moroney filed a lawsuit against the police department after he was charged with lewd conduct and indecent exposure in October 2014 when an undercover male officer lured him into the restroom at a public park then coaxed him into masturbating, only to cuff him as soon as he did. If charged, Moroney would have been added to the sex offenders roster for the rest of his life.

But, Moroney pleaded not guilty and hired one of the most well known lewd conduct lawyers in the nation, Bruce William Wilkerson, which was a good move, as Judge Halim Dhanidina invalidated Moroney’s arrest on Friday, ruling that the LBPD’s tactics were “tantamount to discrimination” and “indicative of animus toward homosexuals.”

“The presence and tactics of the decoy officers actually caused the crimes to occur,” Dhanidina said.

Although the police tried to justify the sting by citizen complaints about lewd conduct in men’s public restrooms, but failed to provide any evidence of the complaints. The judge ruled that officers had “intentionally targeted men who engaged in homosexual sex” simply because they were homosexual.

In a statement, the LBPD called the ruling “unexpected.”

“We are 100 percent committed to civil rights and equality for all people, including the LGBTQ community,” Police Chief Robert Luna said. “Our department has many openly gay and lesbian employees who are a critical part of our team.”

After the ruling, Nickerson told press the case “should send a message to police in the rest of California not to do these kinds of ridiculous, silly, sting operations,” while Moroney felt proud of standing up for the queer community saying, “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.”