The East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office said Sunday that it should “find alternative ways to deter sexual and lewd activity from our parks” in response to a damning report over the weekend, which detailed how police used a struck-down anti-sodomy law to arrest at least a dozen men at parks who discussed or agreed to have consensual sex with undercover agents.
“The Sheriff’s Office has not, nor will it ever, set out with the intent to target or embarrass any part of our law-abiding community,” the Sheriff’s Office statement said, according to the The Advocate newspaper, which published the original article. “We will consult with others in the legislative and judicial branches to see what can be done to remove this law from the criminal code that each deputy receives and to also find alternative ways to deter sexual and lewd activity from our parks.”
