Posted on 07/19/2002 6:18:07 AM PDT by FreeTally
Porn raid nets five arrests
Charges involve selling sex movies to a minor
By Tony Bridges
DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER
Sheriff's deputies raided four Tallahassee sex stores Wednesday, charging five people with peddling grown-up movies to an undercover kid.
The arrests came after a 17-year-old girl posed as a customer and was able to buy adult videos at Rick's Toy Box on North Monroe Street, Greg's Video on West Tharpe Street, X-Mart Adult Superstore on West Tennessee Street and Intimate Encounters on Crawfordville Road, according to detectives.
Store owners decried the undercover sweep as "entrapment" and criticized deputies for exposing the 17-year-old to adult sex products. Sheriff Larry Campbell, once part of a campaign to drive adult stores out of Leon County, said he's just trying to make sure stores that sell dirty movies run a clean business.
The sting was prompted by complaints, including a letter-writing campaign, questioning sales practices at the stores, according to Sgt. Ed Cook, supervisor of the Leon County Sheriff's Office Vice Unit.
Detectives wired the teen-age girl - a high school senior who's frequently paid to do undercover alcohol buys - and sent her to shop at eight Tallahassee stores. They gave her marked cash, but told her to spend lightly, the girl said Thursday, asking that her name not be used.
It was her first time in a sex shop, but "you just have to be mature about it," she said.
She told store employees that she was shopping for her boyfriend, who was too embarrassed to come inside. Since the sting was operating on a budget, she avoided the expensive movies and shopped the $9.95 racks, she said.
In each store, she picked out one movie, browsed the lingerie sections briefly so she didn't arouse suspicions and then approached the check-out counters, the teen said.
Among the titles she selected: "Over my Knee, Part II" and "The XXX Files."
Clerks at four of the shops, including Rick's on West Tennessee Street, checked her ID and ordered her out.(sidenote-I don't get this part. Did they not sell, or did she keep comming back again and again) The others paid no attention as they sold to her - except for Bradley Harvey, owner of Intimate Emporium, who helped her pick out a video, the girl said.
"He gave me his card and he was like, 'Anytime you need anything, I've got catalogs,'" she said.
Harvey declined to comment Thursday.
He and clerks from three other stores were charged with selling obscene material to a minor, a third-degree felony. Each was released from the Leon County Jail after posting $2,500 bail.
Two of those arrested were at Rick's Toy Box. One of them was a veteran employee and should have known to check the girl's ID - but the other was simply there for a job interview and had no idea what was going on, according to Robin Smith, regional manager.
Smith said the store likely will help the job seeker with an attorney and said she was exploring other legal responses to the arrests. She had stern words for the Sheriff's Office.
According to Smith, vice detectives entrapped her workers by sending in a "dolled-up" teen-ager who looked much older than she was. Worse, they sent the girl into adult video stores, where she would have seen things she never should have, she said.
"They should look at what they did because they contributed to the delinquency of a minor by sending her into the store," Smith said. "They should look at what they did instead of just pointing the finger at us."
But don't expect the stings to end anytime soon - they're necessary to keep the adult businesses honest, said Sheriff Campbell.
In the early '90s, he and State Attorney Willie Meggs vehemently opposed adult-oriented businesses, arguing that they would lead to the birth of a gaudy "porn district" in Tallahassee. Meggs even prosecuted two store owners, but he gave up after one was acquitted by a jury in 1995.
The failure led to a minor rift between Campbell and Meggs: The sheriff backed off the campaign, saying his deputies had more important things to do, while Meggs publicly blamed his losses on a lack of aggressive law enforcement.
Now, Campbell says he's concentrating on catching violent criminals, but promises his deputies will be watching the growing number of porn shops in Tallahassee.
"As long as they abide by the law, they won't have any problems with me," he said. "But, if you sell to kids, you're going to jail.
And if you read, she is a "veteran" sting informant. Doesn't want to give her name. Wonder why(not).
That just isn't right. Hope her parents know
Heh heh, I don't think the police force is a priesthood exactly, if you get my drift. :-) The irony.
Greg's got a big sign in his window that says something like "XXX from $4.99"
I don't know if they have a track record of selling, and the article just mentions a "letter writing campaign" that can not be verified. Campbell has always hated "sex stores" and the like. I have never been in any of the four stores mentioned, but there is one not mentioned that I have been in before, and they ask for I.D. as soon as you walk in.
Leon County has had an ordinance banning nude performances for years. They tried their best to keep "sex stores" out, but lost. They are just trying to get rid of them any way they can.
Buddy, I have lived here all of my life. There are quite a few break-ins and roberies, but a very low murder rate - a few a year. It's not Pleasantville, but its not Atlanta either.
I'm just wondering if you think its ok for grown men to expose a 17-year old girl to pornography and sex stores just to see if the store is being honest? Would you send your daughter in?
Some kids just get a part-time job at a burger joint while going through school.
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