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DAYTONA BEACH -- Volusia County's beraches stretch from Ormond Beach to New Smyrna Beach and throughout this stretch of paradise a scandal has erupted that has led to one Beach Patrol Officer in jail on charges of having sex with an underage girl asnd videotaping their sessions without her knowledge, according to the State Attorney's Office.
The scandal, which involves similar allegations against several other Beach Patrol officers led Volusia County spokesman Dave Byron to draw a line in the sand with the media by saying, "This is no Baywatch."
Robert "Bobby Tameris, 44, was returned to jail on $250,000 bail Wednesday after his first appearance before County Judge Dawn Fields on a felony charge of unlawful sex with a minor that could land him in prison for 15 years, if convicted.
The victim, now 18, told investigators she and Tameris had consensual sex on two dozen occasions at his Port Orange residence, but she was 16 and 17 at the time, and Florida law makes it crime for anyone over the age of 24 to have sex with a minor in that age range.
Tameris' attorney, Michael Lambert, termed the law "stupid," and refused a presecution offer to have the bail lowered to $100,000. The defense attorney said his client would still be unable to make bail.
This is not the first time Tameris has been accused of having sex with a minor.
Earlier this year, criminal complaints against him and two other Beach Patrol employees were dismissed for "lack of evidence" even though the alleged victim, a fomer part-time lifeguard, now 18, claimed Tameris and two others, Capt. Jecoa Simmons and lifeguard Christin Duarte had sex with her when she was 16 and 17.
Tameris was arrested Tuesday while doing his beach patrol duties in Daytona Beach.