HOUSTON - Fifty thousand dollars worth of sex toys that were seized in 2005 from Adult Video Megaplexxx by the Houston Police Department may be missing from the department's property room, reported the Houston Chronicle. This is not the first time items have gone missing from this room.
The last time the products were seen by Adult Video Megaplexxx employees was in 2005, when they were carried away by vice officers, to be locked in a property room as evidence. An inventory list was made.
The problem was uncovered when a lawyer for the adult retailer came to reclaim the 564 novelties after the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently declared them legal to sell.
Attorney Richard Kuniansky was told the sex toys would be returned, but then the Houston police said they were destroyed. Kuniansky doubts this explanation.
"There is apparently no court order authorizing destruction of the property or any record of what happened to the property," he said. Neither was there a destruction order in the Harris County court files. However, a police spokesperson said such an order was not a requirement. Still, the attorney said that no matter how much time had passed, the department can't destroy property without following regulations.
Ray Hill, who has been a consultant for adult businesses, suggested sex toys were too tantalizing for police to destroy. "I think the cops stole them," he said. "We've got these gifts to give our girlfriends and friends, and as gags."
