Jeffrey Stanton Santa Monica Pier A History from 1875 to 1990, Donahue Publishing: Los Angeles, CA, 1990, 1958
Chapter 5: Santa Monica Pier on the Skids (1941-1974)
"A scandal broke at Muscle Beach on December 10, 1958 when four muscle men were charged with statutory rape and having a sex orgy with two runaway Negro girls, aged twelve and fourteen. Three of the men, William G. Siddall, George C. Sheffield, and David J. Sheppard, former 1956 weight lifting champion, all lived together at an apartment on Appian Way. The fourth man, John J. Carper, was also charged with additional crimes. A warrant was also issued for a fifth man, but charges were dropped when the girls failed to implicate him.
"City Manager Randall Dorton closed Muscle Beach the following day pending a hearing and a decision at the next City Council meeting. Councilwoman Alys Drobnick, who was always one of the area's detractors, said, "I don't think Muscle Beach is a proper recreational facility. I've been saying this for the last five years. It attracts a bad element to the area. If the musclemen want a weight lifting club its up to them to provide their own facilities." Then she added, "The Muscle Beach crowd has been bragging about how much publicity they have brought the city. I wonder how they are enjoying the publicity now." Other Council members like Frantz and Mills felt that the area needed more control by the recreation department, and it should be given more attention by the police.
"A crowd of more than one hundred attended the two hour hearing on December 16th in the Council Chambers. Police Chief Otto Faulkner testified that Santa Monica has a "terrific sex deviate problem" and many are attracted to the city by Muscle Beach. He quoted statistics that arrests of pervert suspects each year were between 175-200. He concluded by saying, "I firmly believe that Muscle Beach is not an activity the city should provide. I also don't feel the city should provide a place for exhibitionists to show off.""p. 126
"One emotionally distraught mother said that Muscle Beach had corrupted her son and that other mothers were afraid to speak out. One letter read at the meeting asked the Council to take into consideration all the thousands of people who had benefitted from Muscle Beach. "Don't close it-Think more of supervision," it implored.
"Despite the fact that the courts eventually dismissed the four statutory rape cases for lack of evidence, the City Council indicated that it wouldn't allow Muscle Beach to reopen until it was rebuilt as part of the new Beach Park #4. The city's concern was not the cost of a new weight lifting platform but the long term expense of full time supervision . . . that would be required to keep the park safe. Even the decision to install . . . adult gymnastic equipment (rings, bars, and vaulting horses) in addition to children's swings and slides was controversial. Mayor Ben Bernard and Councilwoman Alys Drobnick said that they believed the installation of the adult gym equipment in effect restored Muscle Beach without the weight lifting platform. But the new park opened in August and one lifeguard put it, "the creeps stayed away."