Smelly Gulf Breeze

We don't know if it's related to BP's river Great Lake of oil, due south by about 50 miles, but this afternoon the Pensacola suburban town of Gulf Breeze -- just off 3-Mile Bridge -- smelled horrible to us. BeachLover noticed it, too. She writes: "Essence of oil was the perfume of the day in Gulf Breeze proper mid-morning."

Actually, it smelled to us more like the Cayahoga River, circa 1969.

Sure enough, the Pensacola News Journal is reporting this afternoon that "A fuel-like odor throughout parts of Escambia County could be related to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico."

The Escambia County Emergency Operation Center received reports of the smell this afternoon. There is no measurement data for petroleum-like substances in the air, but officials have reported the smell to a BP hotline and the source is being investigated, according to an EOC press release.

We have to say this: BP can shovel all the money it wants into Florida "to support the [tourist] industry’s efforts to provide accurate information about the state of the beaches across the region.” But if the smell that assaulted us today persists over the coming weeks and months, it won't do a bit of good except, perhaps, to attract those few tourists who suffer from incurable anosmia.

Dept of Amplification
5-20 pm

Duncan Black reacts to Florida Senate candidate Kendrick Meek's 'demand' that BP give more money to Florida to be used for tourist advertising:

Now, in a world where people have the wrong idea that Florida is about to be covered in a glorious rainbow in chocolate sheen and are therefore not making travel plans there's a certain logic to this. However, in a world where Florida is actually about to be covered in a glorious rainbow in chocolate sheen I don't really think a tourism ad campaign is going to do the trick.

But Duncan forgets about all those tourists without working noses who are dying to visit Florida!

Spy Profits

Today's south Florida Sun-Sentinel:

It's the only highway leading to Pensacola Beach, so up to 100,000 vehicles travel that road on any given weekend, Gulf Breeze Police spokesman Kevin Jenks said.
* * *
Since installing the cameras in 2006, Gulf Breeze has issued 3,300 violations and has generated $261,575 in revenue, Gulf Breeze officials said.

Some time ago, a callow and confused columnist for the Gulf Breeze weekly newspaper scoffed at "conspiracy theorists" who object to the "seemingly endless network of video cameras" that track our every move through Gulf Breeze. No Big Brother, here, he argued.

"Yes," he wrote, "we are being watched." But, what "conspiracy theorists forget about is the effectiveness of the American way of life."

Would that American way of life, by any chance, include the profit motive?

Zoo Endangered Species?

Following up on yesterday's story, Louis Cooper reports that Northwest Florida Zoo board members held an emergency telephone meeting yesterday. It looks like the Zoo cannot meet its July payroll. Quick closure looks imminent unless attendance unexpectedly shoots up or someone rides to the rescue.

In the meantime, a talented local with the YouTube handle of Gleo57 recently posted this video of what may be, now, our most endangered species -- the Zoo itself.

Zoo Woes Mount

Off the island, one of the top local attractions for some years in the Florida panhandle has been the Zoo of Northwest Florida, located "down the highway" in Gulf Breeze. For a community the size of Greater Pensacola it's been a fun-to-visit educational facility with a surprisingly wide range of well-appointed animal exhibits, a still-impressive animal breeding program, and visitor-friendly attractions like the zoo train, concession stands, and picnic area.

Tourists enjoy it. Schools rely upon it for the most popular of their student field trips. Many resident families make at least one visit a year to the zoo.

It's especially impressive for those who remember what passed for a Gulf Breeze 'Zoo' decades ago. What we recall from the late '60s and '70s was a miserable, privately-owned Old Florida mom-and-pop roadside collection of piteous cages imprisoning a couple of flea-bitten bears, clinically depressed foxes and an alligator or two.

However dramatic the improvement in more recent times, it's obvious the Zoo of our time is once again a deeply, deeply troubled institution. As a number of local papers have been pointing out with the occasional news downer, it's been cursed with ineffectual management (now replaced and reorganized as a public charity), starved for funds, embarrassed by a few well-publicized animal deaths, and hit by new and more expensive state bonding regulations. Now, it's facing the double-whammy of declining attendance and rising costs. With the escalating gas crisis, things can only get worse.

The hurricanes of 2006-05 delivered what may turn out to have been the coup de grâce. Losing accreditation in 2006 from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums wasn't any help, either, although hope remains that accreditation can be regained rapidly if only the new charitable foundation that's now running things can secure a reliable source for the $3 million needed to pay off existing debt. The local fund drive over the past year energized zoo fans from 2 to 92, but in the end volunteers were able to raise only a third of what is needed.

Now, it seems, the 'new' new management has been taken by a con man. Or almost taken, to be more precise. Louis Cooper of the PNJ has the early dispatch:

A year’s worth of negotiations to bring a headline-making fund-raiser to The Zoo in August hit a brick wall Tuesday, with officials learning the proposal was a hoax.

Danyelle Lantz, executive director of The Zoo, was scheduled to host a news conference today flanked by stars and executives from Disney’s popular “High School Musical” movie series to announce a major fund-raising event aimed at raising $150,000 for the cash-strapped park.

Lantz said The Zoo had been working with “someone posing as a representative of Zac Efron, a member of the cast of Disney’s ‘High School Musicial,’ Drew Seeley, a performer associated with various Disney Channel albums and programs and Disney Corporation.”

But officials learned late Monday that was not the case.

It's humiliating, for sure, but hardly the biggest problem the Zoo faces. That's the fact that no local government, well-heeled charity, corporate giver, or wealthy locals with ample means have stepped up to take the Zoo off life support.

Try as we do, we can't banish the suspicion this might have something to do with the fact that the Zoo occupies over 50 acres of prime real estate along Highway 98. Here in the panhandle, whenever it's Developer versus Man, Developer wins. How much higher do you suppose are the odds when it's Developer versus Monkeys?

Gulf Breeze -- Speed Trap City

The Gulf Breeze City Council this week gave final approval to a new "police emergency service response" (PESR) fee ordinance. Essentially, the ordinance tries to shift the "costs of furnishing police and emergency service responses" in motor vehicle accidents to anyone who is deemed to be "responsible" for the accident or emergency service call.

Superficially, this may sound like a good idea. But it's the modern day equivalent of a speed trap, gussied up to look like a "tax cut" for city property tax payers. And it's pregnant with unintended consequences.

You can read the entire ordinance here [pdf warning]. One of many problems with the ordinance is that it exempts city residents. Section 18-140 specifies that --

residents of the City of Gulf Breeze shall not be charged a PESR fee... or be liable... to others for the payment of all or any portion of a PESR fee.

In other words, all other things being equal, if you live in Gulf Breeze nothing changes; you're still covered by the state's uniform laws and "comparative negligence" laws. No additional PESR can be assessed against you by the City of Gulf Breeze.

But if you reside anywhere else in world you can be singled out to bear the entire cost of a Gulf Breeze emergency service call merely on the say-so of an investigating police or EMT agent who deems you "responsible."

Out-of-area tourists and Pensacola Beach residents will be hardest hit by the new PESR. Indeed, by the very terms of the ordinance they are the only ones to be hit.

Now let's see how that works. Gulf Breeze police officer investigates an auto accident. One driver is a city resident -- say, someone who pays monthly rent. The other driver is from Hoboken, New Jersey. Hmmm. Who to pin the blame on? The driver who is exempt from reimbursing the cop's employer or the out of state guy who isn't?

Tourists are free to avoid Gulf Breeze, of course. And they likely will, once the city's reputation as a speed trap spreads. But Pensacola Beach residents have no such choice. Right now, the only way to come or go to their homes is through Gulf Breeze.

It won't take lawyers very long to figure out that the ordinance likely violates the federal constitutional right to equal protection, due process of law, and freedom of travel. However much revenue the City of Gulf Breeze hopes to generate with "PESR" assessments against out-of-towners, we expect the City will wind up paying many times that much to defend this constitutionally dubious ordinance in federal court.

No Ford In Your Future

It's not yet available on line, but today's dead-tree version of the Pensacola News Journal confirms that Gulf Breeze Ford has shut down.

Carlton Proctor's lede reads "Citing economic conditions, World Ford will close its Gulf Breeze dealership on Saturday... ." Actually, the business effectively disappeared last Saturday. Carelton might have taken a swing by, as we did last Sunday when we snapped the above photo. The inventory simply went Poof!

Speaking of dead trees, does anyone remember just how many hundreds of live oak and pine trees were felled -- over the angry protests of neighbors -- when the dealership was first built back in 2003? Alas, John Gunn is no longer available to tell us.

Battle of the Taxes

One of the enduring myths about Florida is that we are a low-tax state. We aren't. Government services here -- from public schools to fire protection to highway construction and maintenance -- cost just as much as anywhere else, if not more.

The two differences are (1) Floridians whine about taxes a lot more than most others; and (2) Local politicians have responded by dipping into the Thesaurus of Arcane Government Synonyms a little too often.

We don't have a state income tax. We have sales taxes, special assessments, service fees, local options, user fees, excise taxes, tolls, license fees, processing fees, etc. etc. etc. We even have "shipping and handling" fees, just like Ebay. (It's true! Try requesting a copy of a state document under the Sunshine Act.)

Now, we're about to see an explosion in another kind of tax substitute -- the Fire, Law Enforcement, and Emergency Medical fee. (We suggest "FLEM" for short.)

According to the Ft. Walton Daily News, the 'redneck' town of Milton leads the way in the Panhandle. Gulf Breeze will be following soon. Can Pensacola Beach be far behind?

According to the fees established in Milton, the police fee would be $235 per accident, while the fire/rescue fee would be set at $300 per accident. When this is billed, each separate bill would include a $50 service charge. An accident involving the police and fire response would total $635.

In case of billing disputes, a "special master" will be hired to hear the appeals. He'll be hired by the Government, of course -- so long as the Government likes his rulings.

Detainees at Guantanamo probably would get a fairer hearing.

As Rick Outzen pointed out when Pensacola was considering a similar measure a few months ago, "Flat fees for essential government services punish the elderly and the poor. There are no homestead exemptions for fees. Fees aren’t tax deductible like property taxes."

An additional advantage of this new Thesaurus tax is that the pols who run things can pretend it isn't a tax. Consequently, "they don’t have to send our TRIM notices when they raise the fees in years to come." Anti-tax obsessives can't even vote against it.

This cheeseparing of public services is all part of the ongoing atomization of the American community. As Bill Moyers has suggested, over the past thirty years --

a disciplined, well-funded and closely-coordinated coalition of corporate elites, power-hungry religious conservatives, and hard-line right-wing operatives has mounted an aggressive drive to dismantle the public foundations and philosophy of shared prosperity and fairness in America.
* * *
The public institutions, the laws and regulations, the ideas, norms, and beliefs which aimed to protect the common good and helped to create America's iconic middle class, are now gone, greatly weakened, or increasingly vulnerable to attack. The Nobel Laureate economist Robert Solow sums it up succinctly: What it's all about, he says, "is the redistribution of wealth in favor of the wealthy and of power in favor of the powerful."

So, be forewarned: If you plan to have a heart attack or want to get into a fender-bender, be sure to gather the evidence, first, that the "fault" isn't yours. It was the other guy's.

These days, even when it comes to ambulance services it's every man for himself.

John Gunn - Hospitalized

Once upon a time Marine and long-time local Gulf Breeze newspaper columnist John Gunn, age 76, is no longer operating his frequent email news service. Wife Joan says that John was admitted the first week of December to Encore Senior Village in Pensacola.

John is in the early stages of frontal lobe dementia and is not expected to recover. A few weeks ago, he wandered away from the facility on one of the coldest nights of the year, precipitating an area-wide police search. He was eventually found, disoriented, some four and half miles away from the locked facility where he now resides.

Joan says her husband does have his 'good days' and would welcome mail or visits.

Encore Senior Village
9015 University Pkwy
Pensacola, FL 32514

Last revised 1-14-08 pm

Closing the Atchison Book

The Detroit News today reports that "autopsy results released Monday by the Washtenaw County Medical Examiner" give cause of death for John David Roy Atchison as "asphyxiation" caused when Atchison committed suicide by tying a bed sheet to a shower head.

As in the last few weeks of his life, so also in the circumstances of his death the Gulf Breeze federal prosecutor left too many questions unanswered.

Federal prison officials have not said how Atchison, an inmate on suicide watch due to an earlier suicide attempt, managed to hang himself, and they have declined to say whether Atchison died in a cell equipped with a shower or in a separate shower facility.

If they put him in a cell with a shower, that was totally foolish," said Daniel Manville, a Ferndale lawyer specializing in prisoner rights lawsuits and visiting professor at the University of Denver's Sturm College of Law.

"If they allowed him to walk from a cell to a shower, with sheets, you really have to start wondering. You have to ask serious questions about where was the failure in the system. There had to be in this case based upon what we know."
* * *
A prison spokeswoman initially said Atchison was found in his cell, but a second spokeswoman later said officials could not say exactly where he was found.

Most folk in Gulf Breeze express sincere and deeply-felt sympathy for Atchison family members who are still trying, no doubt, to come to grips with all that has happened. But there is also a palpable community desire to close the book on the Roy Atchison story and to focus on the future.

Today, with so many unanswered questions -- not to mention continuing investigations both here and in Michigan -- that seems impossible to imagine. Some day? Perhaps.

Most likely only time will bring peace to those most deeply affected. There always will be unanswered questions. The book will have no ending we can know.

CORRECTED 10-09 PM

Roy Atchison Dead; Suicide Suspected

UPDATED BELOW
Pensacola Assistant U.S. Attorney Roy Atchison, whose arrest on interstate child sex abuse charges shell-shocked Gulf Breeze, was found "unresponsive" by federal prison officials in Michigan early this morning. Atchison was transported by ambulance to a nearby hospital "and was pronounced dead at 10:17 a.m., federal Bureau of Prisons spokesman Mike Truman said."

“His death appears to be the result of suicide,” Truman said. “A thorough investigation is under way.”

Read the rest of the PNJ story here.

UPDATE # 1
10-05 pm

The Detroit Free Press is reporting in a late on-line edition that Atchison "hanged himself this morning at the federal prison in Milan, where he was taken after trying to commit suicide last month at Sanilac County Jail, authorities said."

Officials said Atchison, 53, of Gulf Breeze, Fla., had been housed in solitary confinement and was under close supervision, adding that he had shown no signs of despondency.
* * *
“We are deeply saddened to learn of the death of John Roy Atchison," his lawyer, James Thomas of Detroit, said today in a statement.

“Our heartfelt regrets go out to his wife and children, his parents and his brothers,” Thomas said. “This is a man who has done a lot of good in his life. Unfortunately, he is going to be judged by his most recent charges and what we have read in the media, and not by the goodness, hard work or by the love of his family."

UPDATE # 2
10-06 am
Abby Goodnough of the New York Times writes that Atchison's Detroit lawyer, James C. Thomas, told her he had unconfirmed information "that Mr. Atchison had hanged himself in the shower."

I think they don’t put somebody in there to watch you when you’re in the shower,” he said. “But you have cameras and people watching you as you’re going in.”

A spokeswoman for the Bureau of Prisons, Felicia Ponce, would not provide details of the matter but said Mr. Atchison had been living in a one-person cell in the special housing unit.

Goodnough also quotes Thomas as refusing to comment on Mr. Atchison’s last known state of mind or on whether Atchison claimed to be "wrongly accused."

"We’re not going to talk about that, ever, Mr. Thomas said."

Hell on Pensacola Beach

Duwayne Escobedo of Pensacola's weekly Independent News puts down his investigative pencil momentarily this week to devote the cover story to a made-on-Pensacola-Beach "post-apocalyptic" independent film titled "Beach Party at the Threshold of Hell."

[A]fter three years and against all odds, the movie shot on Pensacola Beach in July 2004 by Gulf Breeze product Kevin Wheatley, aka "Tex," is hitting the big screen Oct. 19 in more than two dozen cities across the United States. "We knew it had this potential or otherwise we would have quit," says Wheatley, the movie's star, creator, director and executive producer in an exclusive interview with the Independent News from Los Angeles. "We knew 99 percent of all independent films never end up in theaters at all. I was coolly optimistic. But if it didn't make it I would've been upset, knowing we had great scenes and knowing how much everyone involved with it believed in it."

National Lampoon, a comedy powerhouse for 40 years with motion pictures such as "Animal House" and the "Vacation" series by comedian Chevy Chase, announced plans recently to distribute "Threshold of Hell."

Wheatley and friends shot the film at Fort Pickens just two months before Hurricane Ivan wiped out all land access to the historic site. The movie is set in the year 2097. Among other things, Escobedo tells us, it features "two robot companions, "Cannibal" Sue, the great, great, great grandson of Fidel Castro, a giant sea snake, a Satanic cult and other bizarre heroes and psycho villains."

If that isn't enough of a hint, Variety has described the film as a "hallucinogenic and crazy-quilt" movie that's "part mock-History Channel, part post-Apocalyptic frat fracas and entirely midnight movie in sensibility." The film, says Variety, includes "non-stop violent shtick ... slapstick and action set pieces... chasing and killing... with healthy doses of improv and incongruent casualness."

Sounds to us like a typical day at the beach. Not to everyone's taste, perhaps, but then Wheatley's film is intended to be a cult film. Formal wear will not be required at the opening.

Read the rest of the Independent News article to learn more about local film guru Kevin Wheatley and his plans for a TV spin-off, plus another script he's working on tentatively called "Henchmen." We're told the script is "about two expendable villains who decide to take matters into their own hands."

Out of control high rise developers brought low by mutant sea turtles and a mischief of Santa Rosa beach mice? We can only hope.

Click here to see the official National Lampoon web site for the film, "Beach Party at the Threshold of Hell" and enter the site to see the newest trailer for the movie. Or, below, you can watch an earlier version of the trailer -- probably the one that first attracted the attention of the National Lampoon people.



corrected 10-05

'Shellshocked' in Gulf Breeze

Abby Goodnough bats clean-up on the Roy Atchison story in Saturday's edition of the New York Times, with an assist from Terry Aguayo of Miami and "Mari Krueger from Gulf Breeze, Fla."

The headline for the story is "Town Is Shaken After Prosecutor’s Arrest in a Child-Sex Sting." Oddly, it carries a three day old dateline.

Here's the lede and a snippet of what follows:

To neighbors here, J. D. Roy Atchison was a deft federal prosecutor, an involved father and a devoted volunteer, coaching girls’ softball and basketball teams year in and year out.

His wife is a popular science teacher; his youngest daughter, an honors student who was on her high school homecoming court last year. Their house, with rocking chairs on the porch, oaks in the yard and a wrought-iron fence, is among the prettiest in town.

Butin an instant last week, the community pillar became an object of community loathing. Mr. Atchison, 53, was arrested getting off a plane in Detroit on Sept. 16 and charged with the unthinkable. The authorities there said he was carrying a doll and petroleum jelly, and that he had arranged with an undercover agent to have sex with a 5-year-old girl.

Now Mr. Atchison is awaiting trial in a federal prison in Michigan, and the people of Gulf Breeze, an affluent bayside suburb in the Florida Panhandle, are outraged, baffled and repulsed.

The rest is also pretty much what we've come to expect. Two local lawyers attest to Atchison's professional reputation, which comes down to "a little eccentric, but nothing perverted or weird." Buzz Eddy once again 'scours his memory' for any clues that Atchison was not what he seemed and, again, he comes up empty. The Gulf Breeze police once more report that "no one" locally "has come forward with accusations of abuse" by Atchison in the past.

And two or three previously obscure locals get their allotted 15 words of fame, one of whom uses it to say, "They ought to torch this guy.” Not specified was whether the 'torching' should come before or after the trial.

In other words, Goodnough doesn't uncover anything that wasn't known already and reported elsewhere, except that the Times' chief Florida bureau reporter, who also is the author of "Ms. Moffett's First Year: Becoming a Teacher in America", does add a little about Atchison's teacher-wife:

Around town, praise flowed for Mr. Atchison’s wife, Barbara, who teaches anatomy at Gulf Breeze High School but took a leave of absence after his arrest. She won the town’s teacher-of-the-year award in 2004. Several people said she was as stunned as anyone by the news.

"She’s shellshocked," said Deputy Chief Randle, who went with F.B.I. agents to execute a search warrant on the Atchison home, where they seized at least one computer. "She’s just floored."

Rick Outzen of the weekly Independent News tried just as hard, using similar sources and even his own son (a freshman at Gulf Breeze High) but he came up just as stumped as everyone else.

Either Roy Atchison was a monster nobody ever really knew or something catastrophic recently happened inside his brain. There doesn't seem to be any third explanation.

The Man Nobody Knew

Sunday's Miami Herald has one of the better written pieces we've seen about Assistant U.S. Attorney Roy Atchison's arrest on federal charges related to crossing state lines in an attempt to have sex with a 5 year old. Reporter Mary Ellen Klas was in the area several days late last week, trying to find the story that lies behind the story.

She knows what that story is: Who was this guy, really?

Aptly, her article begins with an almost lyrical passage describing the "picture perfect" exterior of the Atchisons' Gulf Breeze home. It could stand as a metaphor of the man's seemingly picture perfect life -- until last week.

The courtly colonial house with its wraparound porch and fishing boat in the back is perfectly situated in this close-knit beach town.

Twenty years ago, John D. Roy Atchison, a young prosecutor in the U.S. attorney's office, picked this idyllic spot a block from the beach to build a home and raise a family. He fished in Pensacola Bay, coached girls basketball and softball, and dedicated himself to the community sports association just blocks from their home, while his wife, Barbara, taught honors science classes at Gulf Breeze High.

In contrast, the criminal charges Atchison now faces, as Klas writes, "paint a portrait of a man nobody in this small town even recognizes." Just as the house itself is now tightly shuttered against prying eyes.

In the end, Ms. Klas seems to have wound up as mystified as friends, neighbors, co-workers, and other locals are. Nothing she uncovered in Atchison's prior life even remotely hints at someone capable of committing the acts for which he has been indicted. As it appears -- for now, at least -- no one else can find any past signs or forewarnings of what was to come, either.

Writes Klas:

It's not unusual for there to be more issues other than the chat room,'' said Macomb County Sheriff Mark A. Hackel in Detroit. Among them, he said, is the possibility there may be child victims and involvement with child pornography.

That possibility has racked the Gulf Breeze town of 5,800 with worry and doubt.

''I've gone back mentally and reviewed everything we've done,'' said Buz Eddy, Gulf Breeze's city manager whose office is lined with team photos of his daughter's sports, including teams Atchison coached.

'If he would have called and said, `I'm taking a bunch of girls fishing in Destin for the weekend, can your daughter go?' I wouldn't have had any hesitation,'' said Eddy. "We've never seen anything like this from Roy, particularly from his demeanor and his profession. Shock isn't a strong enough word.''

Police have assured the community that no one has come forward to allege abuse by Atchison. The Gulf Breeze Sports Association, of which Atchison served as president until Monday, offered similar assurances.

The reporter did find some small evidence of newly expressed community hostility toward the once-respected Assistant U.S. Attorney who is now sitting in a Michigan jail under suicide watch.

Since news of the arrest, Atchison's well-kept house on Shoreline Drive has been egged by high-schoolers. His wife, a popular teacher who recently won teacher-of-the-year honors, has taken a leave of absence. His youngest daughter, a senior at Gulf Breeze High, has not returned to school all week.

And, of course, net-thugs can be found on countless message boards volunteering to personally dismember the defendant even before he is tried and convicted.

Everyone here is acutely aware, as city manager Buzz Eddy told the Northwest Florida Daily News, that with investigations continuing "someone" could "come forward with an accusation tomorrow." Or not. There simply is no way to know.

But local support for the family of the Assistant U.S. Attorney remains strong. Last week, Gulf Breeze High seniors hung a large sympathy banner, or perhaps more accurately it could be described as a solidarity banner, inside the school. And almost everyone else in Gulf Breeze, sensibly, is reserving judgment until all of the facts are known.

Atchison's Health: What We Don't Know

Today's news only deepens the tragedy that has befallen the Roy Atchison family. The Pensacola lawyer, arrested Sunday in Detroit as part of an F.B.I. sex predator sting operation, tried to hang himself in his cell early this morning, according to the Detroit Free News.

The 4 a.m. suicide attempt came only one day after Atchison asked a federal judge to take him off a suicide watch and assured her he would not try to harm himself.

Atchison tied a sheet around his neck, but the suicide attempt was discovered by sheriff's deputies before he had a chance to harm himself, Sheriff Virgil Strickler said today.

The tragedy that has befallen Assistant U.S. Attorney Roy Atchison and his Gulf Breeze family doubtless has many dimensions. The general public knows almost none of these, in truth. All that is known, when one looks at it critically, is very sketchy:

• Atchison is a widely admired husband with a long history of working with a children's sports association.
  
• Unlike most sexual deviants, there was no known manifestation, until now, that Atchison harbored any pedophiliac thoughts or urges. Yet, he has been arrested on horrific-sounding charges of crossing state lines with intent to have sex with a five year old girl.
• Allegations that for nearly a month he engaged in on-line messaging back and forth certainly reflect a paraphiliac condition.
  
• Many long-time friends and fellow parents in Gulf Breeze who have personally known Atchison for decades are shocked, or worse, at the news about a man they liked and trusted. They never had a clue, apparently, and even thinking back can't see one.
  
• So far, as it seems, no one locally claims to have had so much as an inkling Atchison ever harbored untoward or sexual feelings toward children.
  
• No one is able to explain how attorney Atchison could have become so suddenly, as it seems, ensnared in such a horrific situation after nearly 53 full years of blameless life.

We must remind ourselves, too, that at this writing there is not so much as a shred of a fact or even a rumor that Atchison has ever injured anyone of any age. The five year old girl in Detroit was a myth; the supposed mother of that child was merely an "online undercover persona" created by an FBI agent for the sting operation. Although Atchison in on-line chats allegedly "suggested" he had "previously had sex with minors" at this writing no fact has been revealed to show that such a "suggestion" was true.

Putting aside the question of guilt -- because, after all, under our legal system Atchison must be considered innocent until proven guilty -- there are reasons to suspect from all of this that something even more tragic may lie behind Atchison's actions in stepping off the plane in Detroit "with a Dora the Explorer doll, hoop earrings and petroleum jelly," as USA Today reports.

What if Atchison's on-line 'boasting' of previous experience was a lie grounded in a fantasy? What if he was acting out another fantasy with the Dora doll? Isn't it possible -- perhaps more than possible -- that Atchison was an upstanding citizen for all of his 53 years until something highly unusual happened in just the last few weeks or months?

We don't have a medical or psychiatric license, but from what we can unearth on short notice via the internet, it looks to us like the psychiatric world doesn't know much about paraphilia, either. As one recent researcher admits, the professionals don't even know the frequency and incidence of "hypersexual" desire:

Although hypersexual desire, a quantitative measure of enacted sexual behaviours, may be a meaningful construct for clinically derived samples, the incidence and prevalence of hypersexual desire in community samples of males with paraphilias and paraphilia-related disorders is unknown.

Nor can they agree, even among themselves, whether it should be included in the DSM as a mental illness diagnosis. Much less do they agree on the underlying cause(s).

The world of shrinks just doesn't know enough about this kind of behavior. But at least some research in the past few years suggests that in a minority of older men a sudden change in sexual appetite and interest can be traceable to dramatically "increased (or decreased) dopamine neurotransmission" and "central serotonin activity." In turn, changes in dopamine neurotransmission can be caused by organic changes in the brain brought on by lesions, disease, genetic disorders, or a comparatively rare type of dementia such as Pick's Disease. In these unfortunates, the organic changes lead directly to dramatic changes in the chemistry of the brain.

We know no more facts about the Atchison matter than you can find for yourself in the library or on the internet. And we're not making excuses for anyone. Nor are we in any way minimizing the horrific nature of the behavior Atchison is alleged to have exhibited.

But we would like to see a stop to all those cranks commentators out there who are so very quick to pollute the world wide web with their own sick fantasies about how Atchison should be tortured and executed without a trial. (No links provided -- there are plenty of comments of that character to be seen on-line; find them yourself, if you must).

And, we'd also like to see Atchison's Michigan lawyer get him an expert medical work-up, fast. Just as does the law, we presume Atchison is innocent of a crime. But we'll make no presumption he is free of disease.

Atchison in the Gulf Breeze News

It's looking as if the story of the Assistant U.S. Attorney who's also a Gulf Breeze resident isn't going to go away in these parts for some time to come. Today, the weekly Gulf Breeze News weighs in on the coverage with not much new other than the reactions of friends and neighbors.

All of them apparently insisted on anonymity:

Those who know Roy Atchison say the reports out of Michigan must be describing a different person than the community leader and family man they know.

"He's squeaky clean," said one local official, on condition of anonymity. Another says there was no indication of any untoward behavior on his part as a coach and president of the Gulf Breeze Sports Association (GBSA).

Some associates remain hopeful that Atchison will be exonerated from a tragic mistake.

"He's a friend," one man said. "I would have trusted him with my grandchildren."

Others say they refused to believe the rumors until they had the chance to confirm that Roy Atchison was the same one accused of such a heinous plan.

Another said there had never been any reason to suspect that Atchison, a high ranking government official and community volunteer, was a pedophile.

The Gulf Breeze News also notes that "Atchison tried several high profile local cases. He would have known the risk of his alleged actions, one official said."

More than likely, the reference to "high profile cases" includes the Sandshaker Bar cocaine ring busts on Pensacola Beach a few years back. The St. Pete Times has archived a three-year old article describing the case. In it, a Pensacola Assistant U.S. Attorney by the name of "Acheson" is quoted -- almost certainly the same Roy Atchison now sitting in a Michigan jail cell.

Atchison is known to have worked primarily on civil and criminal forfeiture cases, which dominated the Sandshaker matter. In that case, the government seized ownership of the bar, a condo unit, a house, various cars, and other properties alleged to be fruits or instruments of the crimes. All of it was later auctioned off.

Assistant U..S. Attorney's 'My Space' Page

News reports aren't getting any better for Pensacola's Assistant U.S. Attorney John David Roy Atchison.

A Michigan grand jury indicted him this afternoon on a new charge basically arising out of the same set of operative facts. He now faces, potentially, as much as life in prison, if convicted:

A U.S. prosecutor and youth sports leader from Florida who authorities say flew to Michigan for an expected sexual encounter with a 5-year-old girl was indicted on an additional charge Tuesday and ordered held without bond.
* * *
He originally faced charges of use of the Internet to seek illicit sex, which carries a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison and a maximum of 30 years; and interstate travel to engage in illicit sexual contact, which carries up to 30 years.

On Tuesday, a federal grand jury added a charge of crossing state lines with intent to have sex with someone under 12, which carries a minimum 30-year prison sentence and a maximum of life.

The Detroit Free Press also is reporting that Atchison had a cyber-home in the notorious internet sewer known as MySpace.com. The information supposedly comes from law enforcement sources. How they can be sure it really belonged to Atchison, we do not know.

Under the user name fldaddy04, name John and caption "Experienced, understanding Daddy," Atchison allegedly described himself in his profile as: "Handsome, educated, professional, experienced Daddy. I love younger girls. Like everything about you... how you think, talk, act. I'm very understanding and supportive... never ever judgmental."

There's more, if you have the stomach for it, including a link to fldaddy04's MySpace.com page. Look for it yourself, if you must.

We know a professional in the juvenile crime-prevention business who routinely advises parents to order their children to show them all of their "MySpace.com" web pages -- or suffer having their computers locked away in the trunk of the car. (Warning: the results can be shocking, indeed.)

A lot of teens seem to assume parents can't comprehend computer photos or read digitalized text, so they merrily share with their "cyber friends" rank shots of themselves drinking, using drugs, and having sex, along with semi-literate narratives describing past escapades.

Apparently, teens aren't the only ones soiling the darker alleyways of MySpace.com.

Finding the American Way in Gulf Breeze

After 'disappearing' Roy Atchison like some Soviet 'unperson', or so it seemed this morning, this afternoon the Gulf Breeze Sports Association issued this formal statement:

Roy Atchison has been a valued member of the Gulf Breeze community and the Gulf Breeze Sports Association for the past decade. He will be on a leave of absence as President of the Gulf Breeze Sports Association until the outcome of the case. The board will continue to administer and oversee sports for the Gulf Breeze community.

Good for the GBSA! A solid, factual, and open statement, acknowledging but taking no position about Atchison's arrest and his legal troubles. The GBSA reserves judgment, but at the same time gives the public their honest evaluation that "Atchison has been a valued member of the Gulf Breeze community" and the sports association.

Someone understands the American way -- and lives by it. No need to cover up or re-write history. The more hateful the alleged crime, the more important becomes the presumption of innocence.

Pensacola U.S. Attorney Becomes An "Unperson"

It's always a challenge to an organization when its leader suddenly is accused of a heinous criminal act. Despite what we are pleased to call "the American way" of presuming the accused innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, it doesn't take long for most inchoate business entities -- corporations, foundations, non-profits, partnerships, and the like -- to distance themselves from the defendant.

Sometimes it happens almost overnight. So, it seems, with the Gulf Breeze Sports Association.

As of late last night, the chairman of the GBSA's board of directors was "Roy Atchison," as the first screen shot, below, shows (click the image for a closeup):

That's the same Roy Atchison, also known as "John David R. Atchison, 53, of Gulf Breeze, Fla." who was arrested in Detroit yesterday on a federal criminal complaint of using interstate commerce while "attempting... to persuade, induce, or entice" a 5 y.o. girl "to engage in criminal sexual activity... ."

Today, he and all of his fellow board members seem to have been disappeared from the GBSA's web site. Take a look at the same web site page from this morning (screen shot # 2 below, click the image for a closeup):

Roy Atchison? Don't know him. Never heard of him.

UPDATE
12:30 pm

Reliable sources tell us three F.B.I. agents were seen this morning exiting the Atchison home in Gulf Breeze. Among those things impounded: at least one vehicle and, we are told, all the home computer equipment.

Local U.S. Prosecutor Nabbed on Child Sex Charges

We absolutely hate to sound like a tabloid. Still, maybe this will bring home to people just what is at stake when the Attorney General of the United States hires on the basis of party loyalty -- and nothing else:

A federal prosecutor from Florida was ordered held in custody Monday after he appeared in U.S. District Court in Detroit on a charge that he flew to Detroit intending to have sex with a 5-year-old girl.

John David R. Atchison, 53, of Gulf Breeze, Fla., an assistant U.S. Attorney in Florida's northern district, is expected to appear again in court for a detention hearing on Tuesday.

He was caught in an Internet child sex sting run by the Macomb County Sheriff's Department and the FBI and arrested Sunday when he flew into Detroit Metropolitan Airport from Pensacola, Fla., according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court in Detroit.

A sheriff's deputy posed as a mother who was interested in finding someone to have sex with her children, in a sting that has already netted a California paramedic and numerous other alleged pedophiles from around the country.

According to the complaint, Atchison reassured the sheriff's deputy who was posing as the child's mother that he would not hurt the 5-year-old because he goes "slow and easy," and "I've done it plenty."

Of course, hard as it would be to say this to a victim's parents, there are larger principles at stake than even this when the president appointments and then protects a hack for Attorney General -- such as the liberties we all enjoy.

UPDATE
9-17 pm

WEAR-TV has the jump on tomorrow morning's Pensacola News Journal. With a photo (below) and the Second Amended Criminal Complaint (pdf version).

Photo said to be of arrested suspect Atchison