'Girls Gone Wild' Shoot Leads to 16 Arrests
Adam Aasen - Florida Times Union
Oct 23, 2009
A video shoot by the "Girls Gone Wild" film crew in a Yulee bar lead to sixteen arrests early Friday morning.
Nassau County Sheriff Tommy Seagraves was tipped off by a concerned citizen who saw a "Girls Gone Wild" bus in town.
"Girls Gone Wild" is a popular series of videos where women expose themselves on camera.
Police investigated the incident because it's illegal to operate a sexually oriented business in Nassau County or to expose yourself in public. Therefore, some of the film crew's activities might violate the law.
Investigators went undercover at The Mill Night Club, at 96032 Victorias Place, only to find men approaching women and encouraging them to show thei breasts so they can be filmed, according to a sheriff's office release. Women were also encouraged to have their breasts spray painted in front of patrons at the bar. Several women complied and exposed themselves.
The night club owner, Kim Karim Bateh, was arrested on charges of operating sexually oriented business and obscenity, along with four of his employees: Paul Thomas Simmons, Robert Wayne Decorah Illo, Thomas William Ryan and Michael Daniel Bateh.
Two employees of "Girls Gone Wild" were arrested: Calvin Harris, Jr., on charges of engaging in a sexual offense, and William Craig Hutchens, on charges of resisting arrest without violence, disorderly intoxication and prohibition of certain acts in connection with obscene, lewd materials
Two customers were arrested with disorderly intoxication and resisting arrest without violence: Jack Ruben Clark and Gary Robert Deehan, Jr.
Seven women were arrested on charges of indecent exposure: Carmyn Ryan Jefferson, 19, Justine Jessie Demers, 21, Lorie Christia Tipton, 29, Diane Marie Mickey, 21, Carolyn Dalila Mendez, 19, Cathy Beatrice Mendez, 18, and Tiffany Lyn Bell, 29.
The Times-Union couldn't find a working phone number for the bar.
This isn't the first time "Girls Gone Wild" has been involved in criminal accusations. The company's owner, Joe Francis, has frequently been embroiled in legal trouble, including two separate arrests in Panama City, Fla. in 2003 and 2007.
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