Florida woman jailed for making sex noises.

[madfloridian]

The county sheriff is a strongly religious man who is being targeted by a local atheists group for taking basketball hoops from the county jail and giving them to churches.

One of these atheists is in jail without bond for making noises of a sexual nature inside her home as a boy and his father, her neighbors, played basketball outside.

It's not the first time for her. There is an interesting video at the Fox Link. One does not make Sheriff Grady Judd upset.

Woman still jailed on sex noises charge

BARTOW - Outspoken Atheist Ellen Beth Wachs is in the Polk County Jail on no bond. On Wednesday, her attorney said she is there because local law enforcement sees her as a thorn in their side.

"I don't think they like people speaking out and challenging their authority," said attorney John Ligouri.

Wachs is accused of making sexual noises that her neighbor's 10-year-old son heard. According to investigators, here's what happened: the boy was playing basketball one morning. Wachs asked him to stop because she was sick and the noise was bothering her. The boy did stop, but a few minutes later, he began shooting hoops with his dad.

Detectives say Wachs began making loud moaning noises of a sexual nature. When deputies arrived, they arrested her.

Here is some information about her first arrest in March. She is a retired Pennsylvania attorney, and she was charged with practicing law without a license.

It took 10-15 squad cars and multiple officers to carry out that arrest. Her home was in shambles.

Police raid home of Florida atheist activist

Wachs, who lives in a gated community just outside Lakeland city limits,
was arrested March 3 in what she termed a surprise raid on her home. She
was charged by State Attorney Jerry Hill's office with practicing law
without a license, a charge Wachs emphatically denies.

"They knocked on the door and asked me to step outside," said Wachs, who
said she did as requested. "They told me I was under arrest." When she
asked what was she being charged with, it was then she learned she was
being arrested for illegally posing as an attorney.

The ferocity of her arrest caught her off-guard, she said. She estimated
there were anywhere from 10-15 officers and a similar number of squad cars.

"Some (law enforcement officials) were in civilian clothes, some in
uniforms," she said. "The street was lined with patrol cars." Wachs
added the uniformed officers were bedecked in SWAT-style regalia instead
of standard uniforms.

Here is why the atheist group is taking Grady Judd to court.

Atheist group plans on taking Judd to court over hoops

TAMPA --

Upset that Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd donated his jails' county-funded basketball hoops to churches last week, an organization of atheists has threatened to take him to court.

Attorney EllenBeth Wachs, legal affairs coordinator for Atheists of Florida, said county property needs to stay within the county.

"He decided to play Santa Claus with county resources, with taxpayer money - to make himself look good," said Wachs, who plans to file an emergency injunction in federal court early next week. "As an atheist, I don't give to churches. Sorry, that's just the way it is."

Judd said he doesn't plan to change anything simply because atheists disagree with him.

He said hoops at the churches will help decrease crime and increase the quality of neighborhoods. To uproot the hoops from churches, he said, would be discriminatory.

There is an intolerance in this Central Florida area. This is not about whether it is atheists suing a Christian sheriff....it is about taking public property paid for by taxpayers and giving it to churches.

[TwilightGardener]

1. That makes no sense at all. You can moan inside your house, sexual or not.

[madfloridian]

3. This is Florida. It doesn't have to make sense.

:hi:

[lpbk2713]

37. The ole Catch-22 -- Florida Version.

It aint allowed because Grady and/or the County Commissioners say so.

[madfloridian]

48. Ain't that the truth.

Grady's mindset is held by so many.

[1monster]

63. No, this is Lakeland, which has always been more than a bit off normal, even for

Florida.

I can't see where the sheriff has even a toe to stand on in this case. He has only the neighbor's assertion that the moans were "sexual" in nature.

The dirtiest minds I have ever incountered were those hard core evangelical "Christians" who were worried about the evil that others do and worried in casae anyone could ever accuse them of "dirty nasty" thoughts or deeds. They saw evil in the most innocent pursuits.

[csziggy]

8. Since she had said she was sick, how were the people outside

Sure the moans were of a "sexual nature". She could have been moaning in pain.

But this is Polk County and it is nutso Christian territory. One church bought an entire mall and turned it into their church, school and activity center. It's huge (or should that be hugh?).

I grew up in Polk and could not wait to leave.

[madfloridian]

14. That's where Grady Judd goes to church.

The First Baptist Church at the Mall



http://www.garrardcarpentry.com/Experience.asp?JobNum=22

[csziggy]

24. I haven't actually been to the front of it - they sure changed the entrance!

I haven't been there since it was a relatively new mall and now that there is that new flyover I don't even drive by on my way south to Bartow.

I consider these mega churches in the same category as ostentatious Catholic churches - so many poor people could have been helped with those funds.

[madfloridian]

26. It's huge. More pictures.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/48215832@N07/sets/72157624652640943/

A whole shopping mall turned into a church. I left the Southern Baptist Church several years ago.

[csziggy]

46. I remember when that mall opened - the first mall I ever saw

And it was gigantic. Across the street was an older strip mall with Sears, Publix and other stores.

Although my Mom's family was heavily involved in the Baptist Church in Alabama - an ancestor helped start the Alabama Baptist Convention which lead to the formation of the Southern Baptist Convention - Mom left the Baptist Church as a teenager. Her brother, the evangelical Baptist minister, always made "special" prayers for her and our family when we visited since she was a back sliding Presbyterian. He sent her bulletins, such as the time the Southern Baptist Convention decided that anyone who did not believe in their version of Christianity was going to Hell. I think up until the day he died he tried to convert her back to his religion.

I was lucky that he took me off his mailing list when I did not have a religious ceremony (or any ceremony) for my marriage. He was sure we were not really married and were living in sin. I never told the man that he personally was the reason I began to question Christianity. In the early 60s he was first person who ever had the bad taste to tell a hateful racist "joke" in front of me and have no shame at all about how completely against the teachings of Christ it was. I was shocked that a so-called minister would relate such a hateful "joke" and laugh about it when people were suffering and dying just to get the rights guaranteed by our Constitution and the treatment that Jesus taught everyone should have.

Thanks, Uncle Robert - you taught me that Christians are not trustworthy since many do not live the way they claim to have been taught.

[madfloridian]

50. Found a pic from inside the Mall many years ago. Look familiar?

[csziggy]

54. OMG - I remember those light fixtures!

We never shopped there much - with three of us sisters in college most of our clothes came from Goodwill, not places like Jean Nichols. Dad did go to the Radio Shack for electronics, though.

[madfloridian]

65. They were unique fixtures.

[Javaman]

33. McChurch. nt

[Blue_Tires]

30. holy damn...a place like that could afford NBA-spec hoops and a court

I could understand a little if the church was some shack out in the swamps or something...

[ohheckyeah]

17. When Harry met Sally is all

I can think of. LOL

[otohara]

56. My Neighbors Made So Much Noise

we thought he was abusing her.
We called the police thinking she was in harms way.
She was screaming.....

with desire.

Every summer when the windows are open...

[rhett o rick]

64. I am not an expert but arent there a lot of noises that might be construed as "sexual" noises? nm

[demosincebirth]

2. "it is about taking public property paid for by taxpayers and giving it to churches."

I think she has a good case on all fronts. Especially on giving away the hoops

[onethatcares]

59. hell, they do it with taxpayer dollars for charter schools

what's the difference?

[madmax]

4. We're in the Twilight Zone.... nt

[madfloridian]

7. Indeed we are.

In many areas now.

[Warren DeMontague]

5. If she says she was praying, would that give her added 1st Amendment Protection?

"Oh, God.. Oh, Jesus.. Oh JESUS GOD GOD GODDDDDDDDDDDDDD"

[Fuzz]

6. Having grown up in the Assemblies of God church I can swear to the fact

that I've heard some really strange moaning and groaning and screaming while speaking in weird 'tongues' while even thrusting and grinding.

It's not a pretty sight.

[Warren DeMontague]

9. 2nd Coming?

Hell, sounds like you're on number five or six, lady!

[Fuzz]

10. lmao

[Maraya1969]

70. I've been looking all over YouTube for this video of a girl giving a prayer

during a commencement ceremony at her church and she ends up have what really looks like an orgasm.

Hard to find on Youtube

Oh and I've seen all the writhing and moaning in church too.

[DBoon]

11. Frank Zappa was arrested for something like this

"conspiracy to commit pornography", consisting of a recording of various ridiculous moans

wikipedia:

An article in the local press describing Zappa as "the Movie King of Cucamonga" prompted the local police to suspect that he was making pornographic films.<41> In March 1965, Zappa was approached by a vice squad undercover officer, and accepted an offer of $100 to produce a suggestive audio tape for an alleged stag party. Zappa and a female friend recorded a faked erotic episode. When Zappa was about to hand over the tape, he was arrested, and the police stripped the studio of all recorded material.<41> The press was tipped off beforehand, and next day's The Daily Report wrote that "Vice Squad investigators stilled the tape recorders of a free-swinging, a-go-go film and recording studio here Friday and arrested a self-styled movie producer".<42> Zappa was charged with "conspiracy to commit pornography".<43> This felony charge was reduced and he was sentenced to six months in jail on a misdemeanor, with all but ten days suspended.<44>

[Initech]

15. Didnt he make an album called "Make A Sex Noise Here"?

[RandomKoolzip]

35. No.

He put out an album called "Make a Jazz Noise Here" in 1991, culled from performances from the 1988 tour.

He also put out the "You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Volume 6" album, on which there is a track entitled "Make a Sex Noise," also culled from a performance from the 1988 tour.

Sorry - obsessive Zappa collector and factoid freak here. :(

[Initech]

57. I'm a pretty obsessive Zappa fan too

I knew of the song I just wasn't sure what album it was on. I remember it now and I like the line where he says something like "That's the only form of safe sex left in America. " :rofl:

[TalkingDog]

12. Obviously she's a danger. A God-Fearing Christian Woman would not know how to make sex noises...

self-evident

[madfloridian]

18. lol

:evilgrin:

[Zorra]

27. lol, well, yeah, Deppity Dawg doesn't think so; he's never heard any before. nt

[russspeakeasy]

42. Thanks for the laugh..

[JVS]

13. Douchebag vs Douchebag

He sounds like the stereotypical asshole sheriff.

She sounds like a criminal who is hiding behind the shield of of atheist activism.

[Warren DeMontague]

16. How does she "sound like a criminal"?

Because to me, it sounds like she's a retired attorney who was arrested because she began taking up the very legitimate cause of the Atheists in this area, and charged with "impersonating an attorney" or some such nonsense. Did she go to court? Actually break the law? Or is she being arrested because she's a "legal coordinator" for a group the sheriff really doesn't like?

[madfloridian]

20. Good question. She doesn't sound like one.

She may annoy the sheriff, but that is not cause for arrest.

[SugarShack]

19. Only in freaken Florida.....

[jberryhill]

21. Some sex noises are more annoying than others

Like that one sex noise that goes screeeeee-BANG-sssssssss....

[greyl]

22. Rimshot! nt

[jberryhill]

23. Yeah, that's another weird sex noise

[madfloridian]

25. More details...apparently she really has health problems.

http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2011/05/04/UPI-NewsTrack-Quirks-in-the-News/UPI-98411304542800/

"Fox News reported she was still being held at the Polk County jail without bond Wednesday because she had been out on bail after her arrest March 3 on charges of posing as a lawyer.

Neighbor Otto Lehman filed for an injunction for protection against Wachs in April, saying his son Forrest was playing basketball March 13 when she yelled at him to stop. When Lehman and his son returned later, Wachs made noises that "sounded like a woman experiencing sexual gratification in an extremely loud fashion," the sheriff's affidavit said.

John Liguori, Wachs' lawyer, said she should be released because she has multiple sclerosis and her medical needs cannot be properly met in jail.

He said Wachs was resting after having chemotherapy when she asked the boy to stop playing basketball, and "there is no simulation of a sex act here."

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2011/05/04/UPI-NewsTrack-Quirks-in-the-News/UPI-98411304542800/#ixzz1LUDdMKQS

The neighbors don't have to like her, the sheriff does not have to like that she is an atheist....but that is not a jailable offense.

Methinks this sheriff has power issues relating to self and religious views.

[frickaline]

28. In related news, Meg Ryan has gone into hiding.

}(

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

38. First thing I thought of was Meg Ryan! lol!

[liberalhistorian]

82. I'll have what she's having"

One of the best movie lines ever.

Although, I will say that the first time I saw that movie I was on a first date with someone and that scene, as funny and true as it was, was kinda embarrassing under those circumstances. Actually, that'a really not the best movie to see for a first date!!

[madfloridian]

29. The video from the local Fox News was surprisingly fair.

They actually gave her side of the issue. There was even some veiled criticism of the sheriff, very unusual.

http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpp/news/local/polk/woman-still-jailed-on-sex-noises-charge-05042011

[bertman]

31. It's not JUST about taking public property and giving it to churches. It's about ABUSING

the authority of his position as sheriff.

A SWAT team of 10 to 15 carloads of cops to arrest one woman for practicing law without a license. That sheriff needs to be the one who is put in JAIL.

REC.

[FLAprogressive]

32. Grady Judd is a fascist media whore. I think he might be worse than Arpaio.

[MedicalAdmin]

39. Honest to Murgetroid. What parent names their kid Grady?

"Hi, this is my son, buttmunch" is about the same IMHO.

[mountainlion55]

34. Organized religion

is the crystal meth of the masses!:hippie:

[Arugula Latte]

49. You got it, mountainlion55

Organized mass delusion and insanity.

[Deep13]

36. idiotic. nt

[KansDem]

40. She should have said it wasn't her making the noises but a prominent Republican politician

That would have stopped any investigation and arrest dead cold!

[Angry Dragon]

41. To me it sounds like he stole money from the county

he should be arrested

[xocet]

43. Sheriff Grady Judd's Comments Regarding the Donation of the Hoops....

Judd's main commentary regarding the hoops and the donation is at the end of this article, but the whole article is worth reading to see what this sheriff is about. Apparently, he is just plotting the "right" course for America to follow.

Atheist group plans on taking Judd to court over hoops

By JOSH POLTILOVE | The Tampa Tribune
Published: December 30, 2010

...

Judd, who has been sheriff for six years, said the county jail has had basketball hoops for at least 30 years.

After the decision was made to remove the hoops, he said, the jail had the option of scrapping the metal, throwing the hoops in the trash or donating the hoops.

Donating the hoops to area churches, Judd said, is "what's right for America - and we've got a few atheists that don't like it."


(www2.tbo.com/news/breaking-news/2010/dec/30/atheist-group-plans-on-taking-judd-to-court-over-h-ar-19249/)

Can the ACLU, the State of Florida or the Department of Justice do anything about this guy?

[madfloridian]

44. No, because he is so beloved. Really, he is.

He's a hero in that right wing area.

[xocet]

45. That is very unfortunate. n/t

[fascisthunter]

47. sorry for saying this, but the South gets extreme and nutty by the day

especially with religious fanatics shoving their dogma on everyone else around them. People down there gotta put a lid on crazy.

[jp11]

51. Unbelievable! Seems like this should be happening in the 50's.

[madfloridian]

52. Seems like the 50s still in some places.

There is that feel.

[Uncle Joe]

53. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, madfloridian.

[Solly Mack]

55. Damn.

[hifiguy]

58. Somewhere, an actual Fla. lawyer is seeing dollar signs

before his/her eyes on thinking of taking on this woman's case. What in the blue hell kind of charges can this cretin bring against this woman for making "noise" in her own damned home unless she had Metallica over to play in the back yard?

This "sheriff" is 150% brass-plated, four-door batshit fucking insane.

[onethatcares]

61. more to the point, how is a county like Polk going to be able to pay

a judgement in the millions?

I'm wondering how long the cops sat outside listening to this moaning? How did they decide that it was "sexual" in nature? Jeez, I was remodeling a trailer in a mobile home park and an old guy had his television up to +12 and "fuck me harder" was being heard up and down the street, no one complained.

[Odin2005]

67. Large parts of the South are effectively little Christo-Fascist theocracies.

[angel2]

71. Fair Trial!

She may have to have her trial moved to Vol usia county Fl. say Daytona, a Democratic leaning county, in order to have enough sane people for the jury pool.

Yes, some 'christians' should call themselves 'paulites', they sure don't follow Christ, as for me, I doubt Paul really had a religious experience on the road to Damascus, that he 'claims' like "guess what! I too, saw a light! Jesus told me to kill all 'Tea Party Activists' and thus to heal our land" lol

I am a Christian, I know Christians, some of my best friends are Christians, but fundamentalists are not 'christians' and dishonor Jesus to claim thus! IMHO

[fascisthunter]

60. geez, get a grip!

arresting somebody for this????? Let me guess, he's a religious nut?

[Dappleganger]

62. God I hate this fucking state.

:eyes:

[Odin2005]

66. I have a friend who used to teach in Ocala, that whole part of Florida is a shithole.

Racists, religious fuck-wits, misogynistic assholes, poverty, and general societal dysfunction.

[RavensChick]

89. All of that in one place???

DAMN! Glad I'm up north.

:scared:

[EVDebs]

68. Reminds me of when Timothy Leary got arrested for disturbing the peace...loud sex ! nt

[madfloridian]

69. She was arrested Sunday. Still in jail yesterday, Wed. I can not find any news on it today.

I have been searching on her name Ellen Beth Wachs and EllenBeth Wachs.

So this is Thursday, and she is still in jail for making loud sex noises?

I love the priorities.

[toddwv]

72. So they charged her with a sex crime for moaning?

Wow... police state indeed.

[madfloridian]

75. AND she's been in jail for 5 days so far.

That angers me.

[madfloridian]

73. Boy was playing basketball at 8:30 am. That would annoy me...

if it were outside my window.

I can not believe this woman was arrested for this.

http://www.theledger.com/article/20110503/NEWS/110509806?Title=Atheist-Official-Wachs-Charged-With-Simulating-Sex-Act

"Ellenbeth Wachs, 48, of Lakeland, is accused of purposely making noises from inside her home March 13 to pretend as if she were having sex while the boy and his father overheard, according to the Polk County Sheriff's Office.

Wachs made the noise in an effort to make the boy stop playing basketball outside her house on Lake Victoria Drive, a complaint affidavit says. She told him to stop shooting baskets because she was trying to sleep.

A Polk County sheriff's detective began investigating after the boy's father, Otto Lehman, filed for an injunction for protection against Wachs in April.

A complaint affidavit says the boy played basketball near Wachs' home about 8:30 a.m. and she yelled through an open window for him to stop."

It took a very long time to arrest her.

[Jefferson23]

74. Florida does seem to have more than a few authoritarian types,

don't they?

Woman, 92, fires shots after being denied kiss, police say
.

OCALA, Fla. - A 92-year-old Florida woman is jailed after police say she fired shots at a neighbor who refused to give in to her demands for a kiss.

Police say Helen Staudinger of Fort McCoy went next door Monday to visit her neighbor, 53-year-old Dwight Bettner, and grew angry when he wouldn't give her a kiss. She then allegedly fired four rounds into Bettner's house from a semiautomatic pistol, shattering a window. No one was hurt.

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/03/23/20110323florida-woman-fires-shots-for-not-getting-kiss.html#ixzz1LXbRDfgG



In Florida, you had better have quiet parties too:

Woman jailed for noisy party

After warning, police came again and took her into custody.

Bradenton police defend the arrest. Zuniga had a chance to turn the music down and keep it down. She did not follow the first police officer's order, Bradenton Police Chief Michael Radzilowski said.

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20070906/NEWS/709060397

[onpatrol98]

76. She shouldn't have been arrested...but she was being a jerk...

So...was the kid playing basketball in "her" yard? If he wasn't in her yard...why should she have the right to tell him to stop playing? Sounds like a crank neighbor. Not one that should have been arrested. But, one with a lot of gall that thinks she can control someone else's kid and yard. How loud could one child playing basketball be? And, what does her being an athiest add to the story? It sounds like simply a story between a cranky neighbor and an out of control law enforcement officer.

[madfloridian]

77. Being a jerk does not mean jail time. 8:30 am is pretty early.

Sounds like the father was acting like a jerk as well, wanting her arrested. It may be a fancy neighborhood, but they are lousy neighbors.

It's amazing anyone would even begin to defend putting her in jail for this.

[Withywindle]

78. Kids can be REALLY fucking loud.

I live in a dense urban neighborhood, and WOW are they loud. Especially the littlest ones, because their voices are so high-pitched and piercing. It's worse than the treble end of a metal concert. You can be sure the whole block is well aware of them.

And some people are like that while enjoying sex as well. If one noise source is OK, then the other must be as well. Speaking as a neighbor who's spent a lot of time hearing both...I prefer the sex noises. At least they tend to have a more regular cadence and not last as long.

[quakerboy]

91. Really?

the background info provided through the thread makes it clear that the arrest was all about her connection to an atheist group challenging the LE guys right to give county property to churches. The "sex noises" thing was purely an excuse to lock her up again.

That said, even if we leave that part of it out, If the boy has the right to make noise playing basketball in his yard, then surely the woman has a right to moan in pain in her home?

Kids can get noisy. I had some neighbor kids who liked to run around chasing each other while screaming. When they weren't busy throwing things at each other and the walls. Normally I just let it be, even when it annoyed me. But when my wife had a migraine, I would go ask them to keep the noise level down that day. They were generally good about it. But if they hadn't been, I would have had to seek some other solution.

[madfloridian]

79. Aha! The boy's father had the ear of important people. Oh, that explains it.

http://www.wtsp.com/news/article/190447/8/Atheist-activist-arrested-for-being-too-loud-in-bedroom

"Liguouri says it's no secret Wachs is not well liked in her gated Lakeland neighborhood, or even by many in the county.

Neighbors, who asked not be named call Wachs a "true narcissist" that creates problems in the community and incites confrontations with her neighbors, including the neighborhood children.

....Chip Thullbery with the State Attorney's Office wrote, "I can simply say that this prosecution was brought in good faith based on sworn statements which indicated a violation of Florida law."

Liguori says he doubts this most recent case would have made it as far as it has had it not been for the father being a local public servant who was able to get the ear of the State Attorney's Office. The very first line of the arrest affidavit states the sheriff's detective was in court to attend a injunction for protection hearing requested by the boy's father against Wachs, because of the detectives' involvement in a separate investigation against her for impersonating an attorney."

[Withywindle]

80. Oh, the demonstration against this is going to sound AMAZING!

I won a fake-orgasm contest at an SF con once. I know the skills involved. :evilgrin:

[liberalhistorian]

81. Shit, if this were really a "criminal offense", then

my mother would have been jailed almost every night of my childhood and well, ahem, let's just say that I would have been in the pokey more than a few times myself. :blush: :smoke:

And what about men? Do they get a free pass to make any noise they want, or is it just the eeeevil, sinful women who must remain chaste, demure and quiet while fulfilling their "duty?"

[DFW]

83. I used to wonder

Just how was it that here in Germany, educated, sensible people turned into violent killers
using political rationalizations for their violence. The East Germans used to arrange for arms
for them, and they trained how to use them in the Middle East. By the time they slipped back
into Germany (this was the 1970s), they were ready to commit mayhem, and they did. I used to
think these people all had a screw loose.

Yet, when I see stories like this, I can understand how some might be driven to see unchecked
absolute dictatorial State power as their sworn enemy rather than their protector. I hope it
doesn't come to the point where some wrongly mistreated citizens get their hands on assault
rifles, or some time when they find themselves under assault from fanatics like this sheriff,
they might just use some self-defense, and give as good (or better) than they get. It would
not be a pretty picture.

[Azathoth]

84. Sounds like she is a little nuts

Not an unusual story: local crazy lady gets on the bad side of the good 'ol boys, and they, in turn, miss no opportunity to make life difficult for her.

[Vinca]

85. Curious. The only way they could be sure they were "sexual" noises

would be to peek in the windows.

[madfloridian]

86. Today in court the man said his son is afraid to go outside.

How pathetic.

[felix_numinous]

87. FL is in bad need of a slut march

blow their little minds.

[ddeclue]

88. Putting the DUH in Flori-DUH..

:blush:

[harun]

90. She should have just not opened the door for the police. Done, they couldn't

come inside. No matter how much they threatened they would, they wouldn't.