Manager of Desert Inn in Daytona Beach pleads guilty in federal court to videotaping 13-year-old boy engaged in lewd sex acts

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Courtesy photo / Dennis Devlin (shown in the larger photo)  faces at least 15 years in federal prison for aiding and abetting Michael Ehman, 20, involving sexual exploitation of a minor while he was managing the Desert Inn in Daytona Beach where the lewd acts took place in front of a video camera.

DAYTONA BEACH -- The Manager of the Desert Inn pleaded guilty in federal court to child sex exploitation charges for activities involving lewd acts with a 13-year-old boy at the beachside hotel.

Dennis Devlin pleaded guilty Thursday to aiding and abetting co-defendant Michael Ehman in the sexual exploitation of a child, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Tampa.

Ehmen, 20, of Ormond Beach, pleaded guilty earlier this month to the child exploitation charge. Both men face a minimum of 15 years to a maximum of 30 years in prison when they are sentenced at a later date.

Federal prosecutors said Ehmen twice drove the boy to the Desert Inn back in January where Devlin used an iPhone and video camera to shoot video and photos of the boy engaged in nude sexual acts. The feds were tipped off by the boy's grandmother who told her he was paid by Devlin for engaging in the lewd acts. 

Ehman, who had been considered a friend of the boy's family, had told the grandmother the boy was helping him install cables at the hotel, but the boy confessed to her and she called the FBI, according to court documents.

On Feb. 2, the FBI, along with Daytona Beach police, raided the Desert Inn where Devlin lived and found the electronic devices with the lewd video and photo images of the boy hidden in the ceiling of a bathroom in the suite Devlin was living in. The videos revealed Devlin offered the boy money in exchange for the lewd sex acts in front of a camera. 

Both men initially faced state charges, which were dropped later that month in favor of refiling in federal court where the penalties are greater.