Business or Pleasure? Swing Club Showdown

Neighbors protest, cops investigate, but Fla. swingers say let the play go on.

ByABC News
April 24, 2008, 8:56 AM

April 24, 2008— -- For a group of Florida residents, there's a limit to the old dictum "Love thy neighbor."

The hot and bothered neighbors of the swinging Hunt Club in Melbourne, Fla., protested last Friday's "Naughty Secretary, Teacher or Schoolgirl" party, and the cops have sent two undercover investigators inside to see for themselves.

Undaunted, the club intends to go ahead with its "Naughty Girls, Ice Cream and High Heels Social" on Friday.

The Hunt Club's indignant neighbors say that at the very least the club is in violation of the area's zoning code, which is residential, not commercial.

But Hunt Club operators argue that the "private" group does not cost members a thing though donations are welcome and thereby is nothing more than a place for like-minded people to share their "alternative lifestyle in a safe, secure environment where they can be themselves," according to the description on The Hunt Club Web site.

The Melbourne Police Department arranged for two officers, one male and one female, to go undercover, sign up for a Friday night event and see if anything illegal was going on.

"We sent in a couple of undercover officers and pretty much, they took the tour of the establishment," Commander Ron Bell of the Melbourne police told ABC News. "The officers noticed there was a stripper pole, some type of sex swing chair and they learned that one of the bedrooms was being used as a viewing area."

"But," Bell continued, "there was nothing illegal taking place at the time when the officers were there."

Hunt Club neighbors remained determined and on Friday night when swingers began arriving for the "Naughty Secretary, Teacher or Schoolgirl" event, they were met by a small group of protestors and a large sign reading "The Hunt Club Not Wanted Here."

Melbourne Police Chief Don Carey, who has publicly said he believes that there's something illegal about the operation, met with disgruntled residents Monday.