Couple charged with being naked on Florida beach. Witness tells cops they saw something else
A Vermont couple was arrested after Sanibel police say they received complaints the husband and wife were naked at the beach.
According to the arrest affidavit, officers went to the beach behind 2341 W. Gulf Drive on Saturday afternoon after a report of a woman skinny dipping in the water.
The officers saw the woman, later identified as Tiana C. Maranville, 26, naked in the water, and gave her a towel to use to cover up.
When asked why she was naked, Tiana Maranville said she “did know that she could not be naked on the beach,” and was able to be naked in the water in Vermont, where she was from, according to the affidavit.
Her husband, Alexander J. Maranville, 27, walked up to the officers and asked why they could not be naked, saying “we are all human.” The officer explained Sanibel is not a nude beach and it is against Florida law to be naked on the beaches.
Police spoke with several witnesses who reported seeing both husband and wife naked. One witness said she saw Tiana Maranville “wrap her legs around” Alexander Maranville and said it appeared they might have been having sex, according to the affidavit.
Alexander Maranville and Tiana Maranville were arrested Saturday on charges of indecent exposure.
They were released from the Lee County jail Sunday after they each posted a $1,500 bond, according to jail records.
The case reminded of a 2014 incident on Bradenton Beach.
On July 20, 2014, a man and woman were arrested after other beachgoers reported seeing them have sex on the beach.
Elissa Alvarez, who was 20 at the time of the incident and Jose Caballero, who was 40, were found guilty of charges of lewd and lascivious exhibition on May 4, 2015.
Witnesses caught the pair on video, and testified that a child who was 3-years-old at the time saw them, too.
During the trial, defense attorney Ronald Kurpiers argued that they were not having sex, but Alvarez was “nudging” Caballero to wake up or dancing on him, and to say they had had sex was speculation.
Alvarez was sentenced to time served. Caballero was sentenced to serve 2 1/2 years in prison, with credit for time served in jail since they were found guilty in May 2015. Both were required to register as sex offenders.
Caballero was released from prison June 16, 2017.
Alvarez later appealed her conviction to the Second District Court of Appeals. The conviction was upheld.
Bradenton Herald staff writer Jessica De Leon contributed to this report.
This story was originally published November 27, 2018 at 11:11 AM.