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Couple Convicted For Sex On the Beach

By Christopher Coble, Esq. on May 06, 2015 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

You're walking down the beach, hand in hand with the love of your life, staring into each other's eyes, and leaning in for a kiss. Next thing you know, you're doing the sideways tango. On the beach. In broad daylight. Surrounded by people.

Hold it.

A Florida couple got carried away, or just didn't care, when they were caught having sex on the beach by bystanders. Scandalized witnesses recorded the encounter and called police. The youngest witness, a 3-year-old girl, wanted her grandmother to explain what the couple were doing. Luckily, grandma easily distracted the child with seashells.

This case, known locally as the "Sex on the Beach" case, was so scandalous it attracted the attention of the state attorney

Not in Front of the Baby!

The couple, Jose Caballero, and Elissa Alvarez, were charged with lewd and lascivious exhibition.

In Florida, "a person who intentionally masturbates, intentionally exposes the genitals in a lewd or lascivious manner, or intentionally commits any other sexual act in the presence of a victim who is less than 16 years of age, commits lewd or lascivious exhibition." Because the couple were both older than 18 years of age, they committed a second degree felony and face up to 15 years in prison.

The defense tried to argue that Alvarez was "dancing" sideways on top of Caballero or tried to nudge him to wake him up. But, jurors were not convinced. It was one of those things where they know it when they see it.

From what they saw in video presented at trial, jurors only took 15 minutes of deliberation to convict the two. Caballero and Alvarez have not yet been sentenced, but face up to 15 years in prison and registration as sex offenders. Prosecutors, fed up with tourists behaving badly, wanted to set an example and show the community what is and isn't acceptable. Alvarez may get less time, but prosecutors are pushing for the maximum sentence for Caballero because he had a previous conviction for cocaine trafficking.

Best Quote

Alvarez's father probably put up the best response to the whole case, regarding his daughter. "She's an 18-year-old woman, with a 40 year-old-man," he told The Miami Herald, "I always say women can be better than men ... but they fall in love, and they make a lot of mistakes."

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