PCB-rape-suspect.jpg

Ryan Austin Calhoun, 23, of Mobile, Ala., and Delonte' Martistee, 22, of Bainbridge, Ga. were charged with sexual battery by multiple perpetrators in connection with a video that the Bay County Sheriff's Office said "appeared to be of a gang rape that occurred on Panama City Beach during spring break." (BCSO)

Bay County (Fla.) Sheriff Frank McKeithen said he "will not back off" in seeking changes to tamp down spring break behavior in Panama City Beach Friday after two Troy University students were arrested in connection with a video that McKeithen said showed a "gang rape" that occurred on the beaches of Panama City Beach last month.

McKeithen said the video shows a 19-year-old victim who appeared to be incapacitated on a chair behind Spinnaker Beach Club when she was assaulted by multiple men. McKeithen said the incident occurred "in the broad, open daylight," and hundreds of bystanders did not try to stop the incident or report it to authorities.

"Within 10 feet from where this is happening there are hundreds, hundreds of people standing there watching, looking, seeing, hearing what is going on, and yet our culture and our society and our young people have got to the point where obviously this is acceptable somewhere, but I will tell you it is not acceptable in Bay County," McKeithen said.

At that press conference, Maj. Tommy Ford of the BCSO compared the criminal element of spring break to a cancer and said that like cancer, treatment for the "tumor" might cause harm to the rest of the body, meaning that businesses in the area might suffer as officials seek to gain control over a dangerous situation.

McKeithen has been among those pushing for stricter spring break ordinances, including one barring alcohol from the beaches and parking lots and one to prevent people under 21 from entering bars or clubs. Those measures will be considered at future meetings of both the Bay County Commission and the Panama City Beach City Council. McKeithen promised to be "more aggressive" in pursuing the new ordinances.

"I've asked for help, I've asked for changes more than one year, more than two years," McKeithen said. "We've asked, we've asked, people talk, people talk, people promise, and nothing gets done."

Videos from McKeithen's press conference are available from Panama City television stations WJGH and WMBB.