Daytona Beach, Florida – from www.usatoday.com – The owner of the Desert Inn hotel in Daytona Beach, Fla. – recently named one of TripAdvisor’s 10 dirtiest hotels in the USA – has been arrested in connection with a child pornography case, the Daytona Beach News-Journal reports.

The arrest follows a month-long investigation by the FBI and local police that was prompted by a 13-year-old boy’s complaint.

On Wednesday, about 70 FBI agents and police officers raided the hotel, the News-Journal says. They arrived seeking evidence that Dennis Devlin, 57, and a 20-year-old hotel employee hired the boy to perform sex acts on video.

“I think he (Devlin) uses the hotel as a front for other sex crimes,” Daytona Beach Police Chief Mike Chitwood told city commissioners Wednesday night. “What I do know is that this (the hotel) is a den of iniquity.”

The News-Journal reported that on Thursday, a judge denied Devlin bail.

Devlin was charged with one count of promoting sexual activity with a child and one count of lewd and lascivious acts with a child, according to the News-Journal. The 20-year-old employee is charged with two counts of promoting sexual activity with a child and one count of lewd and lascivious acts with a child.

The police chief also told city commissioners that he believes there are more victims.

This wasn’t the first time that Devlin faced similar charges. In a sidebar story about Devlin’s criminal record, the paper says:

“As early as the summer of 1991, court records show, the hotelier was confronted with allegations he offered teens money to pose for nude pictures. While Devlin was arrested six times between 1991 and 1996, he was acquitted of 22 counts related to illegal activities with boys. Devlin, 57, was convicted of the second-degree felony but had his record cleared when his accuser “10 years after the alleged incident” recanted his accusations of molestation.”

According to the News-Journal, the investigation was prompted by a complaint from the 13-year-old boy, who told the FBI that Devlin’s 20-year-old employee had gone to his grandmother’s house to recruit him for a job – installing cameras. The grandmother agreed. The job, however, was different than what he’d been told, the article says.

from www.orlandosentinel.com – A judge Thursday ruled that a hotel manager arrested in a child-porn sting at the Desert Inn Resort in Daytona Beach should be held without bail.

Dennis B. Devlin, 57, who lives at the hotel on North Atlantic Avenue, faces two counts of promotion of a sex performance by a child and one count of principal to lewd and lascivious conduct, an arrest affidavit said.

After hearing from a prosecutor that an assistant United States attorney was in the process of filing federal charges against Devlin and that he had failed to appear for court appearances in the past, Volusia County Judge Rob Sanders ordered Devlin held until a bond hearing can be held within five days.

A co-defendant, Michael C. Ehmen, 20, of Ormond Beach, had bail set at $75,000. Ehmen is accused of two counts of promotion of a sex performance by a child and one count of lewd and lascivious conduct.