Shawn Jenkins won't be going to jail for selling a Max Hardcore tape to an undercover police officer four years ago. Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Richard Niehaus gave Jenkins two years' probation instead of jail as prosecutors had wanted.
The prosecution wanted Jenkins behind bars in spite of his having no previous criminal record, according to the" >Cincinnati Post, which said Jenkins was convicted on a pandering obscenity charge that carries a mandatory probation sentence.
The case began when undercover police bought Max Hardcore videos at the Tip Top Magazine store where Jenkins worked. Assistant prosecutor Brad Greenberg had argued Jenkins should have been jailed because he "knew earlier court cases proved the videos were obscene and sold them anyway," the Post said.
Niehaus disagreed, saying the tapes would have to be found obscene by a jury after trial and not because similar tapes were ruled obscene. When Greenberg asked Niehaus to impose a probation condition that Jenkins be barred from selling other obscene video, Niehaus demurred. "You mean, I have to sit here and watch every video," the judge asked, according to the Post.
Greenberg said that was a probation officer's job, the paper continued, prompting Niehaus to observe that he would "bet there will be a lot of volunteers for that. Maybe not."
Max Hardcore said in a statement released to the press regarding the case that, "(t)here will always be right-wing extremists who will continue their battle against freedom of speech in this country. I chose to be in the business of pornography, and this is just another part of the business.
