Ex Midway chief sues over indecent exposure claim

Stephen Demeter of Gulf Breeze, fire chief for the Midway Fire District from 2004-2008, filed a lawsuit Monday against a massage therapist, massage parlor and its owner for accusing him of indecent exposure last June.

Okaloosa County deputies arrested Demeter near the Edge of Paradise Day Spa in Destin after a massage therapist claimed he exposed himself and performed lewd acts on himself in her presence on June 21. Although the state attorney's office declined to pursue charges, the fire district dismissed Demeter with $73,000 severance pay.

Demeter pleaded not guilty at his arraignment and consistently denied the accusation. He said the therapist mistook his scratching an itch as a sexual act.

Demeter, who was a candidate for a chief's job in Louisiana at the time of his arrest, is suing for at least $15,000 for false imprisonment and wrongful detention, malicious prosection, defamation and negligence.

For more information, read the March 19 edition of Navarre Press.