OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - Obscenity charges against a costume shop owned by Spencer Gifts were dismissed this morning in Johnson County District Court. According to a recent report, attorneys for Spirit Halloween were scheduled to appear in court this afternoon as a result of an indictment handed down Sept. 26 by a Johnson County grand jury, but the district attorney’s office signed an order dismissing the case.
Convened as a result of petitions filed by anti-porn zealot Philip Cosby, the grand jury charged the store with four counts of promoting obscenity for selling costumes that the indictment described as "harmful to minors."
“When we got a copy of the indictment, we were as surprised as anyone,” Tyler Garretson, an attorney for the store, told the Star. “So we immediately took our own steps…and removed the costumes that were complained of and put them in a separated back portion of the store. We’ve kind of corrected whatever the perceived problem was through our own actions and once we were able to demonstrate that to the district attorney’s office they agreed to dismiss the indictment against us.”
Two other businesses, Priscilla’s and Hollywood at Home, were also charged on multiple obscenity counts, and are scheduled to appear in court today.
