Was Rep. Phil Hinkle a Victim of a Shakedown? w/Update

In encounters of the sort Rep. Phil Hinkle was involved in, there are always two sides of the story.  The version of the story of the young man Hinkle met, Kameryn Gibson and the man's sister, Megan Gibson, are detailed in the Star article. (I'll refer to the two by their first name to keep them straight.) In response, Rep. Hinkle admits the emails, but claims he's a victim of a shakedown, but did not elaborate. 

Rep. Phil Hinkle.

Assuming there was a clandestine meeting between Kameryn and Hinkle in the hotel room (Hinkle didn't admit to this in his brief comment to the Star), it calls into question Hinkle's sexual orientation.  As noted previously, that not something I care one whit about.  It's a private matter between Hinkle and his wife and none of the public's business.  However, if Hinkle felt that in order to be a public official, he had to remain closeted, living a lie by marrying, while seeking companionship in clandestine meetings in hotel rooms, I think that says a lot about how wrong our society has been in its treatment of homosexuals.  Young gay men in their 20s may think they are subject to hostility and discrimination for their sexuality, but it is undoubtedly nothing when compared to what someone Hinkle's age, 64, would have experienced had he come out at their age.  As a heterosexual man I admit I can only speculate to what it would have been like, but that speculation triggers nothing but compassion for a person facing a choice of living a closeted life or coming out and facing the harsh disapproval of society.

Turning to the article, the Megan's version of the fact make it sound like they were just good public citizens, ratting out to the media a public servant whose behavior they deemed "creepy."  As part of this story, the claim is that after an exchange of emails, Hinkle and the Kameryn met in a hotel room.  Sup a conversation in the hotel room,  Supposedly when they met in the hotel room, Hinkle told the young man he is a state representative. The way the story goes, the young man became so upset upon learning that information, he went to the bathroom to call Megan to pick him up so he could back out of the rendezvous.  According to the Star's story Hinkle offered the 18 year old his iPad, Blackberry and $100, which supposedly offended the sister but apparently not enough to keep her from taking those items.  Next the Star reports Megan driving when Hinkle's Blackberry  rings. She answers and it's a call from his wife to whom she discloses the fact that Hinkle is gay.   The story then is that during a subsequent conversation Hinkle's wife offered $10,000 for them to be quiet about the incident.   According to the story this so scared Megan that she went to the media with the emails and the story of the hotel meeting.

Okay, I'm going to call BS.  Let's look closer at what is actually documented, the emails.  Phil Hinkle found Kameryn's advertisement on Craig's list and contacted him through email.  The Star's story says Hinkle's email has "phinkle" in it and it says on the email from he email said "Sent from Phil's iPad."  We already know the Kameryn is computer literate.  Let's say he's interested in meeting the guy who sent the "phinkle" email from "Phil's iPad," what is one of the first things he's going to do before the clandestine meeting?  What would anyone do, especially someone 18 years old who grew up with computers?

That person would google the name "Phil Hinkle."  It would take all of about 5 seconds to find out Phil Hinkle is an Indiana State Representative.  The notion that the Kameryn went to meet a stranger at a hotel and then was so traumatized to learn Hinkle is a state legislator that he couldn't go through with the evening's activities, well that's difficult to believe to say the least.

Likewise Megan's substantial involvement in the story raises red flags.  Megan says she found Hinkle's behavior "creepy" but apparently has no problem with the morality of her brother placing the ad and meeting a stranger in a hotel supposedly for a paid sexual rendezvous?  Megan claims to have been so upset by the offer of $10,000 that she took the story to the media.  But while $10,000 bothered her, apparently she was okay with the offer of the iPad, blackberry and $100?

It's possible the duo's story is correct, but the BS meter is pretty loud.  Here's another scenario.  Let's say Kameryn went to the meeting knowing Hinkle. is a state representative.  Let's say he and Megan had decided they could make more money shaking down the legislator for an agreement to not talk about the clandestine meeting that they could with a random sex act in a hotel.  In my possible version, the Gibsons demand$10,000 for their silence and the Hinkles never came through with the money, perhaps wrongly guessing Megan would not carry through with her threat to go to the media.



I'm not sure if my suggested version is correct, but it seems as plausible as the questionable version of the facts the Gibsons offered to the Star..  If the Gibsons made a demand for $10,000 in exchange for silence, and there is no evidence yet to suggest they did, it could constitute the crime known as extortion, a felony.  While those possible facts wouldn't excuse Hinkle's reckless behavior, it would explain his use of the term "shakedown" to explain what happened to him.

UPDATE:  Channel 13 news today obtained an exclusive interview with Kameryn Gibson.  Here's what he said about the encounter:

Gibson spoke to Eyewitness News Friday afternoon. He said when he was emailing Hinkle, he didn't know he was a state representative and also thought he was younger.

"I thought he was younger, so it would have been okay, but when I saw him face-to-face, I didn't think he was really about having sex, it was just, he needed somebody to talk to, or play with or something like that," he said.

That, Gibson says, is when he decided he wanted out of the deal. Later, he and his sister would take their story to the Star, claiming Hinkle tried to bribe them to keep quiet.

"Because we thought all these people with high power are getting away with stuff and how they're always talking about they're against same-sex marriage and stuff like that, but you end up doing this? That really has to come out to the whole world, basically," Gibson said.

During the meeting, Hinkle is reported to have divulged that he was a state lawmaker, which prompted the teen to call his sister to come get him. The teen and his sister are alleging Hinkle offered his iPad, Blackberry and some money if the teen refrained from contacting the media or the police.

The BS meter goes again.  First, the Star never reported that Kameryn had a problem with Hinkle's age.  Previously Kameryn suggested what freaked him out and caused him to call off the rendezvous was when Hinkle revealed himself to be a state legislator.  As noted above, Kameryn had Hinkle's name.  You can't tell me he wouldn't have googled the name "Phil Hinkle" before their meeting.

But why might Hinkle being an elected official bothered Kameryn so much as opposed to someone to with a different profession, such as a plumber.? The reason would be that the elected official lives his life in the public.  A lot of people don't like that and steer clear of being involved with people who live that kind of life.  If Kameryn shies away from the public lifestyle, then why is he talking to the Star and, giving interviews to Kevin Rader of Channel 13?  To hear the Rader report, you'd think that Kameryn is not only willing to talk to the public, he did what he did because he's some sort of gay rights activist.

Yeah, right.  I go back to my theory that it could well have been a shakedown that fell through.  The Hinkles were asked for $10,000 and they didn't come through with the money, probably thinking that the Gibsons wouldn't go public as it would implicate them in a crime, i.e. extortion.  The Hinkles guessed wrong and now the Gibsons are working on a story to justify going public.  Not saying that's what happened, but it's a more plausible scenario than the story the Gibsons are spinning.