anti gun mayor of Racine Wis arrested on "child sex assault"

[gunsmith]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/01/14/national/a105156S18.DTL

(01-14) 17:29 PST Racine, Wis. (AP) --

The mayor of this southeastern Wisconsin city was arrested on charges of attempting to sexually assault a child and other counts, but authorities were not releasing details of the allegations against him Wednesday.
Mayor Gary Becker was arrested Tuesday and freed Wednesday evening on a $165,000 cash bond. He is tentatively charged with attempted second-degree sexual assault of a child, child enticement, possession of child pornography, exposing a child to harmful materials, using a computer to facilitate a child sex crime and misconduct in public office.

Becker was arrested late Tuesday at a shopping mall in Brookfield, a Milwaukee suburb.

Racine County District Attorney Michael Nieskes said he was reviewing reports Wednesday and any formal charges would likely be filed Thursday morning, after which Becker would appear in court.

A state news release gave no detail on what Becker, 51, was accused of doing, and officials declined to comment.

Racine, with a population of about 79,000, is some 25 miles south of Milwaukee along Lake Michigan. It is home to consumer products giant S.C. Johnson & Son.

According to the city's Web site, Becker has been married since 1981 and has two daughters. He had served two terms as alderman before taking four years off, then was elected mayor in 2003. He ran unopposed in 2007.

Racine police Lt. James Dobbs said police received a tip about two weeks ago about possible criminal activity involving Becker. Concerned about a possible conflict of interest, they turned the information over to the state Division of Criminal Investigation.

The phone at Becker's home went unanswered Wednesday morning. A message left with defense attorney Patrick Cafferty was not immediately returned.

City Council President David Maack told The Journal Times he was "shocked and disappointed." He said he will serve as acting mayor for the time being.

[Fly320s]

I read the article and then I looked at Gunsmith's avatar.  Uh...


On a different note, it seems that there is an increased rate of politicians being busted.

[AJ Dual]

Yep, Gary Becker is a huge lefty.

And the Wisconsin MSM is breathing a collective sigh of relief that Gary was the Mayor, an office that does not traditionally have a party affiliation. However, if he were a conservative, or even the worst RINO Republican, they'd manage to work it in there somehow every chance they got.  :rolleyes: He also made a minor splash a few years back by being one of the few city mayors who made a show of refusing to be seen with President Bush when he passed through Racine.

The fact that they busted him at Brookfield Square mall two counties over and just under 40 miles away tells me that he was either meeting a minor child, or he believed he was, and that it was an Internet chat sting.

[Monkeyleg]

Gary Becker is most definitely a Democrat, just as Milwaukee County Exec Scott Walker is a Republican.

The other day Mark Belling asked listeners to write down each time they'd read something about this, and then make a note if the story mentioned that Becker is a Democrat. My guess is that less than 10% of the stories will mention his party affiliation.

[gunsmith]

I read the article and then I looked at Gunsmith's avatar.  Uh...


On a different note, it seems that there is an increased rate of politicians being busted.

 

what? I see a funny picture! You see something different?.......if you do. Uh...

[danny]

Of course the pedophile is anti-gun.  He wouldn't want some angry parent to shoot him.

[Balog]

Gunsmith's avatar is too small for me to really see what it's supposed to be.

[gunsmith]

my avatar looks like an innocent little boy of maybe 2 or 1- 1/2
who was running around naked in a rural yard with chickens and a cat,
he was I guess petting the cat then for some reason ( maybe the cat was sniffing)
pushes the cats face into his crotch, the kid is smiling at the camera but in a second will learn a harsh lesson.

You gotta see it to know what I mean.
It was all over myspace a year or two ago,  its a funny pic and in no way whatsoever suggest any kind of abuse.... I do not like the insinuation it does.

[Fly320s]

Sorry, Gunsmith, I wasn't implying anything. I just thought it funny that you had a naked kid avatar next to a story about a pedophile.

No, I don't see anything inappropriate about your avatar.  I added smilies to my original post to convey my sense of amusement.

[gunsmith]

Sorry, Gunsmith, I wasn't implying anything. I just thought it funny that you had a naked kid avatar next to a story about a pedophile.

No, I don't see anything inappropriate about your avatar.  I added smilies to my original post to convey my sense of amusement.

Cool, I guess I'm sensitive since that FLDS thread last year.

On the topic, it doesn't seem as if the MSM has picked this up much, I wonder why?

[KD5NRH]

Well, now we know why he wants his subjects disarmed.

[Standing Wolf]

Sex sting to keep Wisconsin mayor from inauguration
Associated Press
Jan. 17, 2009, 6:08AM

Mark Hertzberg Journal Times

Mayor Gary Becker appears in court. Separately, his picture has been removed from his city's Web site.

RACINE, Wis. — Racine Mayor Gary Becker's plans to attend Tuesday's inauguration have been canceled after he was charged in an Internet sex sting.

Becker had planned to attend a U.S. Conference of Mayors event in Washington over the weekend and then stay for the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama.

But that was before he was arrested Tuesday night at a suburban Milwaukee shopping mall. Authorities said he went there to meet who he thought was a 14-year-old girl but actually was a state agent.

A criminal complaint filed against him Thursday included sexually explicit chats he had with the other person. He faces six felony charges and has been freed on $165,000 cash bond.

Becker's defense attorney did not return a message left Thursday seeking comment on the charges.

City Administrator Ben Hughes said canceling Becker's airline ticket and a four-night stay in an expensive D.C. hotel will cost the city hundreds of dollars. He said city officials learned this week that Becker chose the most expensive of three options - at $550 a night - when booking hotel accommodations.

The money for three nights will be refunded, and Midwest Airlines agreed to allow the city to use Becker's $400 ticket for another official's travel in the next 12 months, Hughes said.

The city also has removed Becker's picture that had greeted visitors to the Racine Web site.

``With everything going on I felt it was not appropriate for his picture and his welcome to remain on the Web site,'' said City Council President David Maack on Friday. Maack is serving as acting mayor.

Top city officials are planning to discuss Tuesday removing Becker from office if he does not resign.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6216561.html