Sex Sting Operation Nets Local Elementary School Principal
by Jim Brown
April 17, 2006
(AgapePress) - - An elementary school principal who also serves as a Baptist deacon is among several men caught in an undercover sex sting operation at a public park in Beaumont, Texas.
For several months the Beaumont Police Department has been receiving complaints from families regarding illicit homosexual activity occurring in Tyrrell Park, a multi-use park frequented by picnickers, golfers, and bird watchers. Seven men were recently arrested in the park for indecent exposure -- a Class B misdemeanor -- after they approached undercover officers explicitly for homosexual sex acts.
One of the men arrested on April 4 was 52-year-old Doak Lamb, a principal at Woodcrest Elementary School in Port Neches and a deacon at First Baptist Church in Groves. KFDM-TV in Beaumont reports Lamb was taken to county jail where he posted bond of $200 and was released. The charge carries a possible fine of up to $2,000, a sentence for up to 180 days, or both. The television station also reports Lamb has been placed on administrative leave.
The sting operation by the police department's Vice and Narcotics Unit is part of an ongoing effort to make the city's parks a safer place for everyone, say law enforcement officials. Officer Carman Apple, a public information officer with the Beaumont Police Department, says narcotics and vice officers will continue to monitor the park for lewd behavior.
"With this sting operation, the message that we would like to send is that illicit sexual behavior in public places will not be tolerated in the city limits of Beaumont," Apple says. "Our public parks are there for family recreation -- and we intend to keep it that way."
Officer Apple says families living near or frequenting Tyrrell Park have been reporting incidents of lewd activity for several months. "This is a park that has a public golf course [and] a wetlands reserve, and people come out to bird-watch, to run [or walk] the trails, to play golf," she explains. "And certainly this behavior is shocking not only to us, but to the individuals who try to go out there with their families and enjoy a good time."
According to news reports, individuals and parents had complained numerous times about men approaching them in the park, asking for sexual favors and exposing their genitals. A news release from the Beaumont Police Department says the sting operation wants to send the message to "those who choose this lifestyle that at any moment they could be placed under arrest and their names and faces made public."
Others arrested along with Lamb include a 23-year-old restaurant worker and three unemployed men, ages 46, 48, and 70. KDFM-TV says all except one of the men are married.
Jim Brown, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
