Pair charged in sex raid at Florida motel

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., Feb. 3 (UPI) -- Police have arrested and charged two people with the promotion of a sex performance by a child in one of the "dirtiest" hotels in America.

The arrests Thursday of Dennis B. Devlin, 57, and Michael C. Ehmen, 20, followed a raid by federal officials at the Desert Inn Resort in Daytona Beach, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

Each was charged with two counts of promotion of a sex performance by a child and one count of lewd and lascivious conduct involving a 13-year-old boy.

Additional federal charges were expected, said Daytona Beach Police Chief Mike Chitwood.

The Web site TripAdvisor.com recently rated the Desert Inn Resort among the "dirtiest" hotels in the nation.

The investigation began after the boy told his grandmother Devlin paid him to pose for sexually explicit photographs. She contacted the FBI.

The arrest report said Ehmen solicited the boy for the photographs, telling him he "could make some easy money by posing naked."

Devlin lives at the hotel. Ehmen is from Ormond Beach. The first incident allegedly took place on June 20, with Devlin allegedly paying the boy $60 for posing nude. Ehmen was paid $80.

Two days later Ehmen and the boy returned and were told to undress and get into a hot tub. Devlin allegedly used a video camera to film the pair putting shaving cream on each other and taking turns spanking each other with a paddle.

After interviews with the child, "the FBI developed credible evidence that child pornography, child exploitation and child abuse were occurring on the property of the Desert Inn," Chitwood said.