Houston city parks ranger Joey Lamar Ellis was accused of abusing his power by targeting gay men in local parks, threatening them with arrest unless they paid him money or engaged in sexual acts.
The 33-year-old was charged with “official oppression” in June after he accused someone in a car parked in Cullen Park of plotting to commit an offence.
Ellis was not on duty but was wearing a ranger uniform and driving a city vehicle, Houston’s CBS affiliate reported. Kou.
The victim in the incident, Joshua Bede, told Houston’s ABC affiliate: South Korea Bede was asleep in his car when Ellis knocked on his window and threatened to arrest him if he didn’t pay or remove his clothes. Ellis claims he had informed Bede he had a gun.
According to KHOU, Ellis threatened to arrest Bede unless he stripped naked, confessed to a crime he did not commit, and paid Ellis $300. Bede gave Ellis $20 in cash and another $200 via Cash App.
Prosecutors also allege that Ellis had tried to trick Bede into using a gay dating app to lure other men to the park in an attempt to trap them and extort money from them. Bede said he complied with Ellis’ demands until he saw an opportunity to escape and call 911.
After Ellis was indicted, the Houston Parks and Recreation Department removed him from its work schedule and announced it would conduct its own investigation into his alleged conduct.
Harris County Assistant District Attorney Kimberly Smith said that since Ellis was first arrested, more victims have come forward and added charges of public oppression and sexual assault, which are also aggravated hate crime charges because Ellis is believed to have targeted his victims based on their actual or perceived sexual orientation.
Smith alleges that Ellis would roam the park looking for men, accusing them of crimes without evidence and promising not to arrest them if they paid him money.
The second victim claims Ellis accused him of trespassing after an early morning workout at Cullen Park in April. Ellis threatened to arrest him, forced him to pull down his pants and gave the former ranger the choice of performing oral sex on him or paying him to avoid arrest. The victim claims he gave Ellis $260.
The second victim said he encountered Ellis again at the park a few weeks later and was given the same choice, but instead fled to his car and fled with Ellis chasing him, eventually spotting him on the highway. The man later filed a report with Houston police after hearing about Ellis’ arrest in June.
A third victim claims Ellis threatened to have her car towed from Memorial Park unless she paid him money or performed oral sex on him. Prosecutors say the victim was short on money and forced the former park manager to perform oral sex on her.
“He has been showing up in parks where he does not work, but at other locations, where he finds one or two men and approaches them and either coerces them into performing sexual acts or giving them money,” Smith told KTRK. “We believe the defendant is targeting these individuals because of their sexual orientation.”
Ellis’ lawyer, Ryan Fremutt, said his client denies the allegations.
“Mr. Ellis has no criminal history,” Fremutt told KTRK. “He appears to be a very good, respectable person, has very close family ties, and totally denies these allegations.”
Source: Metro Weekly – www.metroweekly.com
