A Houston park ranger is facing multiple criminal charges after three victims accused him of sexual assault and extortion.
Joey Lamar Ellis, 33, was arrested in June and charged with “official oppression,” a felony involving a public servant using their office to unlawfully deny someone their rights, after one of his alleged victims filed a criminal complaint with Houston police alleging that Ellis demanded money from him in exchange for not being arrested.
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According to KPRC2, prosecutors allege that Ellis was on the clock when he targeted the man in Houston’s Cullen Park, but was not supposed to be working in that park. Ellis allegedly approached a car in which the victim was sitting with another man, forced him get out of the car, strip off his clothes, and attempted to get the man to confess to a crime he did not commit.
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The victim, Joshua Beede, told KTRK in June that he had been asleep in his car when Ellis approached.
Ellis then told Beede he could either pay him or go to jail, with Beede giving Ellis $20 in cash and paying him an additional $100 via CashApp.
Assistant District Attorney Kimberly Smith told KPRC2 that Ellis then tried to force his victim to help him lure others to the park for the same scheme. Beede told KTRK that Ellis intended for him to use a dating app to lure other men to the park.
“I was, like, fearful for my life, so I was doing everything he said,” Beede said. “He knew what he was doing though. He’s probably done it before. He didn’t look nervous doing it.”
Ellis’s attorney, Wes Rucker, denies the allegations.
Following reports of Ellis’s arrest in June, a second man came forward alleging that Ellis demanded either sex or money not to be arrested. The man, who asked not to be identified, alleges that in April, after an early morning workout in Cullen Park, Ellis approached him and accused him of trespassing. Ellis threatened the man with arrest, forced him to pull down his pants, and gave him a choice: either perform a sex act on Ellis or pay him not to be arrested. The man claims he gave Ellis $260.
The man says he encountered Ellis in the park again a few weeks later and was given the same choice. That time, the man says, he fled in his car, with Ellis in pursuit, though he was eventually able to lose him on the highway. The man said he ultimately decided to file a report with Houston Police after hearing of Ellis’s arrest.
“I just left it alone, but then somebody else spoke up. So, I just hope that others will speak up.”
On Monday, Ellis was back in court facing one additional charge of official oppression and one charge of sexual assault after a third victim came forward. According to KTRK, prosecutors have also added a hate crime enhancement to the sexual assault charge. Smith said prosecutors believe Ellis targeted his victims because of their sexuality.
“He’s showing up at these parks where he’s not assigned to work. But he’s showing up to these other locations where he’ll find a single male or maybe two males, approach them, and coerce them into either performing a sexual act or giving him money,” Smith said Monday.
Smith also said that prosecutors believe there may be more victims who have yet to come forward.
Following his June arrest, Ellis’ employer, the Houston Parks and Recreation Department, released the following statement: “The Houston Parks and Recreation Department has been made aware of the arrest of Urban Park Ranger Joey Ellis. The Department has removed him from the work schedule at this time and the public can be assured that appropriate measures are being taken while HPD investigates.”
