Indiana mayor arrested on suspicion of paying for sex act

By Eric M. Johnson

(Reuters) - The mayor of a southeast Indiana city has been arrested on suspicion of hiring a male prostitute who later blackmailed the elected official and withheld the fact that he was HIV-positive during their sexual encounter, police said on Wednesday.

Batesville City Mayor Richard Fledderman, 60, was arrested on Tuesday and faces one count of patronizing a prostitute, a misdemeanor, Indiana State Police Sergeant Stephen Wheeles said in a statement.

A second man, Randy Wigle-Stevens, 42, was also arrested on a felony-level charge of failing to disclose a dangerous communicable disease, as well as prostitution and intimidation, both misdemeanors, Wheeles said.

The arrests stem from an investigation that found Fledderman paid Wigle-Stevens for sex acts in June.

State police also determined that Wigle-Stevens failed to disclose his HIV status to Fledderman prior to engaging in the sex acts and that, afterward, Wigle-Stevens threatened to go public with the encounter unless Fledderman paid him additional money.

Fledderman was released from the Ripley County Jail later on Tuesday after posting bail of $550, and a judge released Wigle-Stevens on his own recognizance, a jail employee said.

The mayor did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did the county prosecutor. Wigle-Stevens could not be reached for comment.

Police opened an investigation after Wigle-Stevens reported Fledderman forced him to perform a sexual act after the mayor contacted him for a massage at the mayor's home, about 70 miles southeast of Indianapolis, Wheeles said.

Fledderman paid Wigle-Stevens about $170 but the man later demanded extra money to keep quiet, the Indianapolis Star newspaper reported, citing court documents.

The newspaper also reported that Wigle-Stevens told police he was at Fledderman's home for three hours and the pair spent time discussing politics.

(Reporting by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle; Editing by Eric Walsh)