KANSAS CITY – Three adult businesses have been indicted on obscenity charges by a Johnson County grand jury. The indictments are the first three to be handed down by the special jury, convened July 16 in Kansas’ Johnson County District Court. The groups were given the job of deciding what is obscene and what isn’t by looking at whether a handful of video rental stores and sex shops were promoting obscenity.
According to the Kansas City Star, Spirit Halloween, Hollywood at Home and Priscilla’s were each indicted in Johnson County District Court on multiple counts, all misdemeanors.
The rare grand juries are a result of anti-porn crusader Philip Cosby's campaign to wipe out adult businesses in the Kansas City area. Cosby heads the Kansas City chapter of the National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families (NCPCF). Earlier this year, he organized a petition drive calling for grand jury investigations of 32 adult businesses in Kansas and Missouri for promotion of obscenity. Enlisting the help of church leaders and community activists, Cosby's group delivered the petitions to six county courthouses in May. The efforts successfully created grand juries in several Kansas counties.
According to court documents, “Spirit Halloween displayed adult costumes in places where minors could view them…Hollywood at Home unlawfully and knowingly or recklessly possessed and intended to sell four different obscene DVD’s [and]…Priscilla’s possessed and intended to sell an obscene DVD billed as involving teens and various obscene sex toys.”
“The grand jury can operate for 90 days from when it began, with the option of extending its existence an additional 180 days,” Brian Burgess, spokesman for Johnson County District Attorney, Phil Kline, told the Kansas City Star. “Jurors may or may not investigate additional adult businesses, and they don’t have to announce their investigations because they’re allowed to operate behind closed doors. The grand jurors have a lot of autonomy in how they proceed.”
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