ORMOND BEACH, Fla. -- An Ormond Beach man who owns a local radio station and is a self-proclaimed nudist will be released from jail after a judge questioned his latest arrest on charges of sex crimes with teens.
F. Douglas Wilhite, 56, was originally arrested in July and charged with having sex with a boy who was 15 at the time, the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office said.
Wilhite, the owner of WELE-AM in Daytona Beach, was again arrested Thursday night on new charges.
But Circuit Judge John Doyle on Friday ordered Wilhite, who also is a personality on the radio station, released on his own recognizance, saying he was arrested on a "frivolous" anonymous tip that suggested Wilhite was going to flee authorities on his boat.
Doyle scolded prosecutors for acting on the tip and not making the defense aware of Wilhite's pending arrest.
Authorities said on Thursday that an investigation into Wilhite’s life found that several more teenagers had gotten drawn into what investigators called his "life of nudity, sex, alcohol and pornography."
Police said the original arrest was for "plying a 16-year-old boy with beer, wine and vodka" and having sex with him about a dozen times between last February and May.
The boy had been living with Wilhite and his wife at their home on Walnut Court near Ormond Beach, police said. The boy ran away on May 18 and Wilhite’s wife reported him missing.
Police said the boy was found in Virginia in June. When he was interviewed, he accused Wilhite of months of sexual abuse.
Police said none of the victims referenced in the new charges -- a mixture of boys and girls between the ages of 14 and 16 -- reported having sex with Wilhite.
But investigators said they all described Wilhite parading naked around the house, offering them alcohol, showing them pornographic movies and encouraging them to have sex in front of him.
The sheriff’s office also said Wilhite had told them they couldn’t use his workout room unless they took their clothes off.
Two victims said they had sex in front of Wilhite and another said he would masturbate while watching them have sex, police said.
One girl also said she would have sex in the back seat of Wilhite's car while he drove and watched -- one time on their way to church, the sheriff's office said.
Two girls also told investigators that Wilhite had grabbed their naked rear ends. One also said he rubbed his penis up against her, police said.
According to witness statements, the common bond between the seven new teens was the original 15-year-old boy Wilhite is accused of sexually victimizing. The others said they were drawn to Wilhite's home in order to visit the boy.
The sheriff's office said Wilhite has been charged with six counts of contributing to the delinquency of a child, five counts of showing obscene material to a minor, three counts of lewd or lascivious conduct and one count of lewd or lascivious exhibition.
Wilhite had to be wrapped in a blanket for the ride to the sheriff's office’s headquarters Thursday night because he refused to put clothes on, police said.
He was expected to be held at the Volusia County Branch Jail in Daytona Beach.
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