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Baton Rouge Police Cpl. Don Coppola says the "crimes against nature" charge was a simple mistake made by officers.

(Brett Duke, NOLA.com|The Times-Picayune)

Baton Rouge police arrested two men on Thursday using an unconstitutional sodomy law, the same statute the East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office used less than two years ago.

The Baton Rouge Police Department charge the men who were allegedly having sex in a park with "crimes against nature," a statute that was deemed unconstitutional in a 2003 Supreme Court case. The Sheriff's Office used the same statute during sting operations to arrest men suspected of crimes against nature in 2013.

A Baton Rouge police officer on patrol found two men allegedly having sex in the backseat of a car after 2 a.m. on Thursday in Forest Community Park, according to an affidavit of probable cause.

Records show both men, a 25-year-old and a 33-year-old, were charged with crimes against nature and trespassing in a BREC Park. One of the men has post bail, but the other man was still in East Baton Rouge Parish Prison as of 11 a.m. Saturday, according to booking records.

"They were charged on counts of trespassing and crimes against nature and then we recognized that the crimes against nature (charge) was unconstitutional," Baton Rouge Police Cpl. Don Coppola said Saturday. "(BRPD) Chief Carl Dabadie immediately contacted the East Baton Rouge District Attorney's office to have those charges removed."

After contacting the DA's office, Coppola said Chief Dabadie sent a memo to all officers saying the crimes against nature statue was no longer constitutional.

Coppola says the chief apologized to both men for the mistake that was made.

"The officers were acting in good faith," he said. "We are human as well, and it was simply a mistake, which was immediately taken care of."