A grand jury indicted four sexually oriented businesses in Anderson county Tuesday on charges of disseminating obscene materials, the Associated Press reported.
Prosecutors say the four businesses - Pandora's Boxxx, Lucy's Love Shop, 4 Your Eyes Only and Paradise - violate a state law that prohibits the sale of material that "depicts or describes in a patently offensive way sexual conduct," according to AP.
Community activists who opposed the businesses celebrated a victory.
"This is just the beginning of what could happen in our state," the Rev. Elva Martin, whose Anderson Prayer Task Force led opposition to sexually oriented businesses in the Anderson city limits, told the news service.
Ingo Stugg, owner of 4 Your Eyes Only, said he has been in business in Anderson for 10 years.
"How come we have licenses for years and years and they suddenly come out with these things?" Stugg told AP. "Where are we going where all these churches can tell us what we can and can't sell? We pay our taxes the same as anybody. If you don't like it, then look the other way."
Community opposition began to build last spring when Pandora's Boxxx opened, as the first sexually oriented business in Anderson's city limits, according to the story.
The report said that Anderson's city council passed a law restricting where such businesses could be located, but about 4,000 residents signed a petition urging a citywide ban on sexually oriented businesses.
Anderson Mayor Richard Shirley said the matter was best settled in the courts, AP reported.
An arraignment date could come at the next general sessions court term on Nov. 7, prosecutor Scott McElhannon told the news service.
