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morality ordinance violated.

shadowcat

Atlanta suburb

PANAMA CITY BEACH - Five dancers and a manager have been arrested after undercover deputies allegedly saw the women showing their bare breasts in a topless bar, according to arrest records.

Under Bay County's "morality ordinance," the term "topless" is a bit of a misnomer.
The arrests were part of an undercover operation conducted by the Bay County Sheriff's Office. Deputies said while investigating a report of violations of the county's "morality ordinance" at Show-N-Tail, 8776 Thomas Drive, they observed several dancers exposing their breasts in front of patrons. The women and the manager were arrested and charged with misdemeanors, court records stated.
Nudity and indecent conduct are illegal in Bay County commercial establishments, according to the county's morality ordinance. The law states it is illegal within any business serving food, drink or alcohol for a person to "expose or exhibit in a vulgar or indecent manner ... any portion of the female breast below the top of the areola where the areola and nipple are not covered by a fully opaque covering," according to county codes.
The ordinance also prohibits owners or managers from directing or allowing nudity within their businesses.
Jaycee Miranda Aycock, 22; Elizabeth Denise Conant, 23; Destiny J. Leeds, 20; Megan Alaina Rodriguez, 18; and Lauren Celeste Wilson, 21, were arrested in connection with the incident. Manager David Leroy Nelms, 48, also was charged for allegedly allowing the female employees to dance without a "clothing top," officers reported.
Nelms was issued a $2,000 bond. The women were conditionally released on a pretrial program. Multiple attempts to contact supervisors of Show-N-Tail went unanswered.
BCSO reported that after receiving a report that employees of the business were violating the county's morality law, they organized an undercover operation. After about two hours within the club, officers had observed the women dancing with their breasts exposed without intervention from the manager, which confirmed the report they received about the business breaking the law, officers reported.

"We didn't go in randomly," said Lt. Kevin Francis. "We had another law enforcement agency tell us that while they were investigating a case nearby there, they learned the dancers were violating the ordinance."
Francis said to facilitate various undercover operations, officers are supplied with money. Whether they spent any money within Show-N-Tail was unclear.
The penalty for violation of the morality ordinance can be up to a $500 fine or as much as 60 days in jail, unless otherwise determined by officials. The law has been on Bay County's books since 1982.
The incident wouldn't be the first time authorities have disrupted Show-N-Tail for allegedly violating decency laws. In April 2015, Panama City Beach Police Department officers arrested 11 dancers and a manager on the same charges.
The State Attorney's Office eventually dropped the charges, and prosecutors said each person involved had completed the terms of a misdemeanor diversion program.