Someone’s having fun with Photoshop and law enforcement officials in Pataskala are not amused.
An image that has been manipulated to depict a female Pataskala police officer having sex has been mailed to businesses, city officials, and law enforcement agencies in the small town, located approximately 20 miles east of Columbus.
"This is the product of a deranged mind," Pataskala Police Chief Chris Forshey told the Newark Advocate. "This is nothing more than a cruel act of a deranged mind to defame the department and the good officer involved. I've never dealt with this in my 26 years in law enforcement."
Or it could be a practical joke. Legendary porn star John Holmes lived in Pataskala for a decade in his youth – and the offending images were sent in a mass mailing from that bears a Johnstown, Pennsylvania postmark.
Other than the coincidence of Holmes having lived in Pataskala, and the photocopies having been sent from a town that bears his first name, there is nothing to connect the photos to a Holmes fan.
Bill Margold, who has organized an event at the Erotic Museum on August 8 to celebrate what would have been Holmes’ 60birthday, doubts that the photos were part of a practical joke or homage to Holmes.
“I certainly hope not. We [the adult industry] don’t need any of that kind of attention right now,” Margold said. “If someone is getting that devious and that warped to do something like as some sort of homage, we’re in trouble.”
The envelopes had no return address, and were labeled “Adult Content.”
The photocopy reportedly features a newspaper picture of the female officer on duty by her cruiser and beneath that another image of that officer's face transposed upon the body of a naked woman engaged in an unnamed sexual activity with a man.
Beneath the second image is a caption stating the depiction is on the Internet and advises readers that similar pictures will be sent to area businesses.
Pataskala police have requested that residents not open the letters, and instead turn them over for evidence in an ongoing criminal investigation regarding the photocopies. So far 40 unopened letters have been collected.
Forshey suggested that the sender or creator could be charged with pandering obscenity, or sued for slander, libel or defamation of character.
