3 busted in St. Pat's sex stunt

N. Y. DAILY NEWS ^ | 08/16/02 | TAMER EL-GHOBASHY

[NY.SS-Bar9]

A man and woman having sex in a vestibule at St. Patrick's Cathedral - a sleazy prank broadcast live on the shock jock Opie and Anthony radio show - were arrested yesterday after an usher spotted them, police said.

Fans of Dumb and Dumber - Gregg (Opie) Hughes and partner Anthony Cumia - heard the collar over WNEW (102.7 FM).

Charged with public lewdness were Brian Florence, 37, and Loretta Lynn Harper, 35, both of Virginia. Comic Paul Mercurio, who was acting as the couple's lookout, also was busted, charged with acting in concert.

The sexual high jinks at the city's most well-known sacred site came on the Feast of the Assumption, one of the Catholic Church's holy days of obligation.

Joe Zwilling, spokesman for the Archdiocese of New York, said church offices were closed for the feast day, so he hadn't heard about the episode.

"But if it's true, it's disgusting, and that's all that needs to be said," he said.

Sgt. Gerard Beyrodt of Midtown North detectives said the couple was seen about 4:15 p.m. "engaging in some kind of intercourse" in the vestibule of the cathedral's 50th St. entrance.

"An usher thought the guy was urinating, so he approached him and saw the female naked from the hips down," Beyrodt said.

Investigators said the sordid scene was visible to about 20 worshipers and tourists in the cathedral.

Cops said the stunt was part of an annual contest on the show. Contestants get points for having sex at certain sites, with higher points going to the riskier places.

Mercurio was acting as spotter for the couple, looking out for trouble and reporting back to the radio show.

Police said he was on his cell phone to the show when a cop called by the usher grabbed him.

Florence complained of back pain after his arrest and was treated at a hospital. As he was brought back to the Midtown North stationhouse for questioning, he was asked whether the contest was worth the arrest.

"Not really," he said.

Long Islanders Hughes, 36, and Cumia, 41, broadcast their rude and lewd humor in 50 cities and last year reportedly signed a $30 million syndication deal that runs through 2004.

[firebrand]

How to show your contempt for Christians: have videotaped sex in the area's most famous cathedral. I think this merits a boycott of WNEW and its sponsors. A new low in Catholic-bashing, Christian-bashing, and religion-bashing in general.

[Wondervixen]

Lemme get this straight...These people perpetrated this act of blasphemy for POINTS???

Boy, Satan's gonna have a great time with them!

[Stand Watch Listen]

My Lord! What next? Pig slaughtering in a mosque!!!

[KeyBored]

Already posted here

[Black Agnes]

Augh, boycott indeedy.

[NY.SS-Bar9]

Freep away

Chairman Michael K. Powell: mpowell@fcc.gov
Commissioner Kathleen Q. Abernathy: kabernat@fcc.gov
Commissioner Michael J. Copps: mcopps@fcc.gov
Commissioner Kevin J. Martin: kjmweb@fcc.gov

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[NY.SS-Bar9]

Sorry, searched for sex and stunt.

[TomB]

Already posted here

Ah, different article entirely, one from the Post the other from the Daily News.

[monday]

"Charged with public lewdness were Brian Florence, 37, and Loretta Lynn Harper, 35, both of Virginia"

Yuck.... aren't these people a little old to be pulling stunts like this? It would still be stupid but more understandable if they were college age kids but people in their 30's need to get a grip. They must have the combined IQ of a salamander.

[sharktrager]

"Then momma took me to grammar school, but I stopped off in the vestibule...

[Redshift]

That is truly some hilarious stuff. Keep it coming.

[Britton J Wingfield]

I don't want to know about your ding-a-ling ;)

[SamAdams76]

Bunch of scumbags. They should arrest the radio DJ's who put them up to the stunt too. And I don't say this just because it is a Christian church. I'd feel the same way if the stunt occurred in a synagogue, a Hindu temple or even a mosque. You don't defile other people's places of worship. What is happening to common decency in our society?

[StarFan]

"WNEW regrets what took place and promised it will never happen again", so says Foxnews. Since this is the same outfit that broadcasts the Howard Stern Show, their apology holds little weight.

[pyx]

WNEW FM 102.7
Vice President/General Manager - Ken Stevens
Fax our Management: 212-489-1263

Someone should contact ol' Kenny boy at 102.7 and tell him you are putting him on notice that you are starting a campaign to get 10,000 NYC residents signatures on a petition to the FCC to NOT renew WNEW FM 102.7's license when it comes up for renewal.

Ask ol' Kenny boy if he'd be laughin' all the way to the bank if they had a contest to festoon the largest mosque in NYC with slabs of bacon ?

I suspect the threat and possible petition followup to not renew a broadcasting license will be a bit of a pucker factor for ol' Kenny boy. 10,000 signatures in NYC wouldn't be that hard to collect in view of September 11th forthcoming cerimonies.

[freebilly]

"Well, Father O'Neill, we were on our way to confession and figured we needed something to confess...."