ORANGE COUNTY, FLA---The Orange County state attorney's office has declined to file criminal charges against former Mount Dora police Lt. Roger Chilton who had been accused of forcing a transvestite prostitute to perform a sex act inside his patrol car.

The Orange County Sheriff's office had recommended that Chilton be charged.

The state attorney's office said there was insufficient evidence to prosecute the matter. Chilton was the spokesman for the Mount Dora Police Department prior to his resignation Dec. 6 after the allegations of the sexual battery surfaced.

The transvestite, James Bronson, 44, claimed he was assaulted when Chilton offered him a ride to a convenience store. He told police that Chilton made him take off his clothes in the police car and then fondled him. He had also alleged that Chilton drove him to a wooded area and that Chilton forced him to perform oral sex.

Bronson made the allegations the same day he was booked into the Orange County Jail on a charge of domestic violence, five days after the alleged incident with Chilton.

Chilton was placed on administrative leave and then resigned.

Chilton denied the allegations. Police say that Bronson has passed a voice-analysis-stress test and his story has remained consistent. Chilton has refused to take the voice test.

Security cameras from the convenience store show Chilton and Bronson getting into the unmarked police vehicle together. 3-23-07

© 2007 North Country Gazette