Local
D.C. police target gay men in online sting
Effort called unfair as cop uses drugs, ‘perv boy’ to entice users; at least 20 arrested
D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier said she is aware of the sting and supports it through the department’s participation in an Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)
The Federal Public Defender for the District of Columbia has alleged that D.C. police and the U.S. Attorney’s office have unfairly targeted gay men in an Internet sting operation seeking to arrest men who “entice” or “persuade” juveniles for sex.
In a little noticed brief filed in federal court last May, Assistant Public Defender for D.C. Jonathan Jeffress said that with full approval from the U.S. Attorney’s office, a D.C. police detective posing undercover as an adult gay man has targeted gay men for sex-with-minor arrests on adult gay websites that have “no history or reputation as locations where minors go online.”
The brief was filed under Jeffress’ name along with the name of A.J. Kramer, the Federal Public Defender for D.C., who is responsible for managing a staff of public defender attorneys that represent indigent clients before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Jeffress told the Blade that among the sites targeted in the sting are Gay.com, BarebackRT.com, and SexPigs.com, which are widely known as dating and sex hookup sites for adult gay men. He said he knows of at least 20 arrests of gay men in the sting operation in which the undercover detective met the men through these websites.
These figures are far lower than the actual numbers of arrests through this sting, Jeffress said, because many of the arrested men likely retain private attorneys and their cases don’t pass through the Federal Public Defender’s office.
William Miller, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office, said that since 2005, his office has prosecuted 68 cases “in which defendants were arrested in investigations in which an undercover officer poses as an adult pedophile who has access to a child (girl or boy).” He said that of the 68 cases, “about half involved defendants attempting to exploit boys and about half involved defendants attempting to exploit girls.”
Miller cited a court brief filed by the government in opposition to the Federal Public Defender’s brief, which disputes the allegations made by the public defender, calling them “baseless.” The government brief says the allegations and legal arguments made by the Federal Public Defender are not supported by past court decisions that upheld the legality of similar sting operations in other jurisdictions.
Jeffress, however, noted that a federal judge in D.C. supported the Federal Public Defender’s arguments last month when he acquitted a gay male defendant ensnared in one the sting arrests.
Jeffress said D.C. police Det. Timothy Palchak has made nearly all of the arrests in the sting operation.
According to court records and police charging documents, the undercover detective posts a profile on one of the websites indicating his interest in meeting someone for sex, describing himself as 40 years old, “athletic,” 6-feet-2 inches tall, 200-209 pounds, and “versatile.” In at least one case, he described himself as a “no limit perv” into taboos, including “yng,” meaning young people.
Court records show the detective informs those who respond to his posting through emails or instant messages using known code words or abbreviations that he’s into drugs, including crystal meth, and invites the men to his place for sex with him.
A police charging document for one of the cases says the detective mentioned to one of the men responding to his profile that he has available to him a 12-year-old “perv boy” who “loves” to be penetrated in anal sex.
Police and prosecutors have said in court papers the “boy” is fictitious and that the men targeted in the sting have never been in contact with an actual juvenile or with the fictitious boy — only with the detective posing as an adult who claims to have access to the boy.
In his court brief, Jeffress said many of the men arrested in the sting are heavy drug users, including crystal meth addicts, and have consented to engaging in sex with the detective and the juvenile for the purpose of “going along” with the detective, who they think is a willing adult sex partner, as a means of obtaining drugs.
“Instead of apprehending the Internet predator who is actively seeking children online — such as the kind of defendant one sees time after time in the cases from other districts — the U.S. Attorney’s Office is instead arresting gay men interacting in adults-only chat rooms that have no history or reputation as locations where minors go online,” Jeffress said in his brief.
“Moreover, instead of arresting individuals who have attempted to persuade minors, the arrests are of defendants who have been persuaded by the UC [undercover detective] to meet him and the fictitious minor for drugs and sex,” the brief says.
The brief adds, “[A]s the government is fully aware, the defendants in these cases are often struggling with meth use, and are therefore agreeing to the UC’s propositions not because they are pedophiles but because they are compulsive and exceedingly susceptible to the power of the UC’s suggestions, particularly on sexual matters. These defendants are also powerfully motivated by the UC’s dangling of meth as a ‘carrot’ to reward their travel to the meeting place.”
By meeting place, Jeffress was referring to a place that Det. Palchak arranges for the men targeted in the sting to meet him and the fictitious juvenile for sex and drugs. The targeted men are arrested immediately or shortly after they arrive at the designated meeting place, court records show.
Jeffress’ brief, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, called on a federal judge to dismiss a charge against a Canadian gay man ensnared in the sting in March 2011 during his visit to D.C. on the way home from Fort Lauderdale. Police and prosecutors charged Ivan Nitschke, 47, under a federal anti-pedophile statute that calls for a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in jail and a maximum sentence of life in prison.
The statute, referred to in court documents as 18 U.S. Code, Sec. 2422(b), is aimed at apprehending online predators who seek out sex with minors.
U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg agreed to a pre-trial defense motion to dismiss that charge against Nitschke last May. Following a non-jury trial last month, Boasberg found Nitschke not-guilty on a separate charge of traveling with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct.
Boasberg ordered Nitschke released from jail, where he had been held without bail since his arrest on March 24, 2011.
The brief says Nitschke, an admitted methamphetamine addict, was arrested after he responded to a posting by Det. Palchak on BarebackRT.com.
In delivering his verdict in the Nitschke case, Judge Boasberg said he found the defendant, who testified at the trial, to be credible and honest in admitting to his addiction to crystal meth and being into promiscuous sex with multiple adult partners during his visit to D.C.
Boasberg said the defense proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Nitschke was not a pedophile and his stated agreement to join the undercover detective in a sexual encounter with the fictitious 12-year-old boy was motivated by his desire to obtain drugs from the detective posing as an adult sex partner.
“So at the end of the day, for all these reasons, in this case I strongly question the government, whether the government has even met the preponderance standard here,” Boasberg said from the bench. “And I thus have no hesitation in pronouncing a verdict of not guilty for the defendant.”
Miller, the spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney in D.C., said his office has no comment on the verdict in the Nitschke case.
He said the arrests in the sting have been part of a joint effort between the U.S. Attorney’s office, D.C. police, and the FBI through the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force, which he said places a high priority on combating the sexual exploitation of minors.
“When the task force learns that pedophiles are using otherwise legitimate websites to seek out children to exploit, it does not hesitate to use those sites to identify these criminals,” Miller said in a statement to the Blade. “Our office has no interest in targeting those seeking out consensual adult relationships, but remains committed to identifying and stopping those individuals who are intent on sexually exploiting children.”
He said that of the 68 “sting” cases prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s office in D.C. since 2005, 66 of the defendants were convicted, one case was dismissed, and just one defendant, Nitschke, was acquitted by a judge. Miller did not break down these numbers between the defendants that pleaded guilty as part of a plea bargain offer and those, if any, who were convicted in a trial.
D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier, when asked about the sting, told the Blade she is aware of it and supports it through the department’s participation in an Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force created by the U.S. Department of Justice. The FBI is also a participant in the Task Force.
“The goal of the unit is to protect children against predators,” Lanier said, in referring to a D.C. police Internet Crimes Against Children unit to which Det. Palchak is assigned. “The group that is targeted is pedophiles,” she said. “Anyone that agrees to have sex with a child should be arrested and prosecuted.”
Lanier said Palchak and the ICAC unit “looks at several websites and does not target any one in particular…No one website is targeted,” she told the Blade in an email.
In a police charging document against Nitschke, Det. Palchak said that Nitschke initiated a private email chat with the detective in response to the detective’s profile on the website, which has since been identified as BareBackRT.com. In one of his messages, Palchak said he was getting off work at 3 p.m. “and meeting my lil perv boy that I met over the summer for a few hours. He is young so if that is not your thing we can hook up after he leaves.”
In his charging document, Palchak quotes Nitschke as responding, “Hey bud…said I was into that in my first message…fuck yeah…how old is he?” Palchak responded that the boy had not yet turned 13 and added that the boy was very “cool, vers and freaky” and “loves to be fucked and bred,” the charging document says.
It says Nitschke responded, “…yeah…into all that…and ready to join in.”
In explaining his not-guilty verdict for Nitschke, Judge Boasberg said this type of dialogue, standing alone, suggested Nitschke may have been interested in sex with the fictitious boy. But the judge said the preponderance of evidence established a “context” showing that Nitschke was not into sex with minors and that his overarching aim was to seek out drugs from the detective.
Boasberg noted that evidence submitted by the defense showed that he had been in online chats with half-a-dozen or more other men during the days prior to his online meeting with Det. Palchak. In all of those exchanges the defendants’ interest was sex with people around his age and drugs, not sex with a juvenile, Boasberg said in his lengthy verdict, which has been transcribed.
“[H]is actions show that meeting Detective Palchak is something he is barely interested in,” Boasberg said in explaining his verdict. “If you look at his actions, not what he said in the chat, but what he did,” said the judge, “it just doesn’t show someone who is interested in sex with children.”
It could not be immediately determined whether the U.S. Attorney’s office has asked Det. Palchak to change his tactics in communicating with men on the gay adult websites as a means of carrying out the sting operation following Boasberg’s not-guilty verdict in the Nitschke case.
The concerns raised by the Federal Public Defender about the possible targeting of gay men in a child-sex sting come at a time when LGBT activists have complained that the U.S. Attorney’s office has lowered charges in plea bargain arrangements for people arrested for committing violent crimes against LGBT people, especially transgender women, during the past several years.
Jeffress said the Federal Public Defender’s office has represented about a dozen gay men arrested in the sting operation whom the undercover detective met through various adult gay websites. He said he knows of at least 10 more arrests made through online contact between the detective and the defendants, with at least some through Gay.com.
In his court brief, Jeffress said prosecutors in the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s office typically charge the men arrested in the sting under 18 U.S. Code 2422(b), which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years and a maximum of life in prison, as a way to intimidate them into pleading guilty to a lower charge.
The lower charge often consists of a federal statute outlawing traveling in interstate or foreign commerce “for the purpose of engaging in illicit sexual conduct with another person.” That statute carries no minimum sentence and includes a maximum sentence of 30 years. Jeffress’ brief says in most cases, judges follow federal sentencing guidelines, which call for sentences for first offenders of between 46 and 57 months in jail.
The brief says the action by the men ensnared in the sting does not appear to meet the threshold for an arrest under the more severe charge, 18 U.S. Code 2422(b), which states, “Whoever, using the mail or any facility or means of interstate or foreign commerce … knowingly persuades, induces, entices, or coerces any individual who has not attained the age of 18 years, to engage in prostitution or any sexual activity for which any person can be charged with a criminal offense, or attempts to do so, shall be fined under this title and imprisoned not less than 10 years and or for life.”
Virginia
Fellow lawmakers praise Adam Ebbin after Va. Senate farewell address
Gay state senator to take job in Spanberger administration
Gay Virginia state Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria) delivered his farewell address on Feb. 16 in the Senate chamber in Richmond following his decision to resign from his role as a lawmaker to take a position as senior advisor to Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger.
Ebbin, whose resignation was to take effect Feb. 18, received a standing ovation from his fellow senators. Several of them spoke after Ebbin’s address to praise him for his service in the Virginia Senate from 2012 to 2026.
Ebbin first won election to the Virginia House of Delegates in 2003 as the first openly gay member of the General Assembly. He served in the House of Delegates from 2004 to 2012 before winning election to the Senate in 2011.
His Senate district includes Alexandria and parts of Arlington and Fairfax Counties.
“Serving in this body has been the greatest honor of my life,” Ebbin said in his farewell address. “Representing Northern Virginia in the General Assembly — my adopted home since 1989 — has been a responsibility I never took lightly,” he said.
“We are a 406-year-old institution,” he told his fellow lawmakers. “But, when I arrived, I had the distinct honor of being a ‘first’ in the General Assembly,” he said. “Being an openly gay elected official 22 years ago didn’t earn you book deals or talk show appearances — just a seat in a deep minority across the hall.”
Ebbin added, “Still, being out was a fact that felt both deeply personal and unavoidably public. I was proud, but I was also very aware that simply being here carried a responsibility larger than myself.”
Ebbin has been credited with playing a lead role in advocating for LGBTQ rights in the General Assembly as well as speaking out against anti-LGBTQ proposals that have surfaced during his tenure in the legislature.
In his speech he also pointed to other issues he has championed as a lawmaker; including strengthening education programs, expanding access to healthcare, safeguarding the environment, and legislation to help “stand up for working people.”
Among the LGBTQ rights legislation he pushed and mentioned in his speech was the Virginia Values Act of 2020, which bans discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, among other categories.
“I’m particularly proud of our work ensuring Virginia modernized state law to protect LGBT people from discrimination in their daily lives, including in employment, housing, and public accommodations,” he said in his speech. “The Virginia Values Act of 2020 — my proudest achievement — established new protections for all Virginians,” he said.
“This law, the first of its kind in the South, passed with strong bipartisan support,” he stated. “And now — this November — after 20 years, Virginians will finally be able to vote on the Marriage Equality Amendment, which will protect the ability to marry who you love. It’s time for our state constitution to accurately reflect the law of the land.”
He was referring to a proposed state constitutional amendment approved by the General Assembly, but which must now go before voters in a referendum, to repeal a constitutional amendment approved by the legislators and voters in 2006 that bans same-sex marriage.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s Obergefell ruling legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide voided the Virginia same-sex marriage ban. But Ebbin and LGBTQ rights advocates have called on the General Assembly to take action to repeal the amendment in case the Supreme Court changes its ruling on the issue.
In his new job in the Spanberger administration Ebbin will become a senior advisor at the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority, which regulates policies regarding marijuana possession and distribution.
Ebbin was among the lead sponsors of legislation in 2020 to decriminalize possession of marijuana and of current pending legislation calling for legalizing possession.
“When I first entered the General Assembly, I saw too many lives upended by a simple marijuana charge — jobs lost, futures delayed, families hurt,” he said in his speech. “And for far too long, that harm was baked into our laws. That is no longer the case. The times have changed and so have our laws.”
Ebbin said he was also proud to have played some role in the changes in Virginia that now enable LGBTQ Virginians to serve in all levels of the state government “openly, authentically, and unapologetically.”
“I swore to myself that I wouldn’t leave until there was at least one more lesbian or gay General Assembly member,” Ebbin said in his speech. “But when I leave, I’m proud to say we will have an 8-member LGBTQ caucus.”
And he added, “And if anyone on the other side of the aisle wants to come out, you will be more than welcome — we’re still waiting on that first openly gay Republican.”
District of Columbia
Deon Jones speaks about D.C. Department of Corrections bias lawsuit settlement
Gay former corrections officer says harassment, discrimination began in 1993
Deon Jones says he is pleased with the outcome of his anti-gay bias lawsuit against the D.C. Department of Corrections that ended after five years on Feb. 5 with the D.C. government paying him $500,000 in a settlement payment.
The lawsuit, filed on his behalf by the American Civil Liberties Union of D.C. and the international law firm WilmerHale, charged that Jones, a Department of Corrections sergeant, had been subjected to years of discrimination, retaliation, and a hostile work environment because of his identity as a gay man in clear violation of the D.C. Human Rights Act.
A statement released by the ACLU at the time the settlement was announced says Jones, “faced years of verbal abuse and harassment, from co-workers and incarcerated people alike, including anti-gay slurs, threats, and degrading treatment.”
The statement adds, “The prolonged mistreatment took a severe toll on Jones’s mental health, and he experienced depression, post-traumatic-stress disorder, and 15 anxiety attacks in 2021 alone.:
Jones said the harassment and mistreatment he encountered began in 1993, one year after he first began work at the Department of Corrections and continued for more than 25 years under six D.C. mayors, including current Mayor Muriel Bowser, who he says did not respond to his repeated pleas for help.
Each of those mayors, including Bowser, have been outspoken supporters of the LGBTQ community, but Jones says they did not intervene to change what he calls the homophobic “culture” at the Department of Corrections.
The Department of Corrections, through the Office of the D.C. Attorney General, which represents city agencies against lawsuits, and the mayor’s office, have so far declined to comment on the lawsuit and the half million-dollar settlement the city offered to Jones, who accepted it.
Among other things, the settlement agreement states that Jones would be required to resign from his job at the Department of Corrections. It also declares that “neither the parties’ agreement nor the District government’s offer to settle the case shall in any way be construed as an admission by the District that it or any of its current or former employees, acted wrongfully with respect to plaintiff or any other person, or that plaintiff has any rights.”
Scott Michelman, the D.C. ACLU’s legal director said that type of disclaimer is typical for parties that agree to settle a lawsuit like this. He said the city’s action to pay Jones a half million-dollar settlement “speaks louder than words.”
With that as a backdrop, Jones reflected on the settlement and what he says was his tumultuous 30-year career as an employee at the D.C. Department of Corrections in a Feb. 9 interview with the Washington Blade.
He and Michelman pointed out that Jones was placed on paid administrative leave in April 2022, one year after his lawsuit was filed. Among his upcoming plans, Jones told the Blade, is to publish a podcast that, among other things, will highlight the hardship he faced at the Department of Corrections and advocate for LGBTQ rights.
BLADE: What are your thoughts on this lawsuit settlement which appears very much in your favor?
JONES: That’s great. I’m happy. I’m glad to resign. It’s been a long time coming. It was the worst time it’s ever been. And I have advocated for the community for many, many years. And not only standing up for my rights but for the rights for others in the LGBTQ community.
And I’m just tired now. And my podcast will start soon. And I will continue to advocate for the community.
BLADE: Can you tell a little about that and when it will begin?
JONES: Once in April, once everything is closed my podcast will be starting. And that’s Deon’s Chronicle and Reveal. Yes, my own podcast.
BLADE: Since we have reported your attorney saying you have been on administrative leave since March of 2022, some in the community might be interested in what you have been doing since that time. Did you get another job or were you just waiting for this case to be resolved?
JONES: I was waiting for this to be resolved. I couldn’t work. That would violate policy and procedures of the D.C. government. So, I could not get another job or anything else.
BLADE: You have said under administrative leave you were still getting paid. You were still able to live off of that?
JONES: Yes, I was able to. Yes, sir. I used to do a lot of overtime. As a zone lieutenant for many years, I have supervised over 250 officers. I’ve also supervised over 25,000 inmates in my 30 years.
BLADE: How many years have you been working for the Department of Corrections?
JONES: It’s 30 years all together. I started down at the Lorton facility. Six facilities — I’ve worked for past directors, deputy directors, internal affairs. I’ve done it all.
BLADE: Do you have any plans now other than doing the podcast?
JONES: Well, to just do my podcast and also to write my book and my memoir inside of the house of pain, the house of shame — what I’ve been through. When I start my podcast off it will be stories — Part 1 through Part 4. And I will go back to the Lorton days all the way up to now. When it first started was sexual harassment and discrimination back down at Lorton. And I mean this has just been the worst time around.
BLADE: So, did you first start your work at the Lorton Prison?
JONES: Yes, I was at the central facility, which was the program institution.
MICHELMAN: Just for context. You may remember this, but the Lorton facility was where D.C. incarcerated people were held. So, that was part of the D.C. Department of Corrections.
BLADE: Yes, and that was located in Lorton, Va., is that right?
JONES: Right.
BLADE: Didn’t that close and is the main incarceration facility is now in D.C. itself?
JONES: Yes. And that closed in 2001.
BLADE: I see. And is the main D.C. jail now at a site near the RFK Stadium site?
JONES: Yes, sir. And next-door is the correctional treatment facility as well.
BLADE: So, are you saying the harassment and other mistreatment against you began back when you were working at the Lorton facility?
JONES: At the Lorton central facility. And they used to flash me too. When I say flash me like the residents, the inmates were flashing. And they [the employees] were flashing.
BLADE: What do you mean by flashing?
JONES: They take their penis out and everything else. I mean the sexual harassment was terrible. And I came out then down there. And I continued to advocate for myself and to advocate for other people who I was told were being picked on as well.
BLADE: As best you can recall, where and what year did that happen?
JONES: That was back in 1993 in April of 1993.
BLADE: The mayor’s office has declined to comment on the settlement and payment the city is giving you. Yet they have always said they have a strong policy of nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people in D.C. government agencies. But do you think that was not carried out at the Department of Corrections?
JONES: That’s a blatant reason why — I had 13 anxiety attacks. It was so blatant. Can you imagine? On the airwaves or the walkie-talkies — everybody had a walkie talkie — the captains and the majors and everything. And you transmit it to the command center or something like that. When you finish someone gets on the air and calls you a sissy or a fag.
They received so many complaints, and I also sent the mayor so many emails and begging for help. And they ignored it. They didn’t address any complaints at all. So, that’s bull.
BLADE: But now after you filed your lawsuit and you received this settlement do you think there will be changes there to protect the rights of other LGBTQ employees?
JONES: I hope so, because I have been defending community rights. For many years I have been advocating for different things and different services. And I’ve seen the treatment. There are a lot of mistreatments towards the community over there. And I have taken a stance for a lot of people in the community and protecting their constitutional rights as well as mine.
BLADE: What advice might you have for what the Department of Corrections should do to correct the situation that led to your lawsuit?
JONES: Well, what my advice for the department is they need to go back over their training. And they need to enforce rules against any acts of discrimination, retaliation, or sexual harassment. They need to enforce that. They’re not enforcing that at all. They’re not doing it at all. And this time it was worse than ever, then I’ve ever seen it. That you would get on the walkie talkie and someone would call you a fag or a sissy or whatever else or do evil things and everything. They are not enforcing what they are preaching. They are not enforcing that.
BLADE: Is there any kind of concluding comment you may want to make?
JONES: Well, I hope that this litigation will be a wakeup call for the department. And also, that it will give someone else the motivation to stand up for their rights. I was blessed to have the ACLU and WilmerHale to protect my constitutional rights. So, I am just really happy. So, I’m hoping that others will stand up for their rights. Because a lot of people in the community that worked there, they were actually afraid. And I had some people who actually quit because of the pressure.
Baltimore
‘Heated Rivalry’ fandom exposes LGBTQ divide in Baltimore
Hit show raises questions about identity, cultural representation
By JOHN-JOHN WILLIAMS IV | “Heated Rivalry,” the surprise gay hockey romance that has captivated global audiences and become a cultural phenomenon, has inspired sold-out parties celebrating the characters from the steamy series, including in Baltimore.
For some, love of the show has exposed the loss of a once-vibrant gay nightlife in Charm City and splintered its LGBTQ community. It also brings up layered questions about identity, cultural representation, and the limits of identity politics.
In Baltimore, the majority of the parties also appear to be missing a key ingredient that has been a part of the show’s success: gay men at the helm. Last month, women hosted a dance party at Ottobar, a straight establishment.
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
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