Kansas Video Store Owner Indicted On Obscenity Charges
WICHITA, KS – The owner of a chain of adult video, novelty, and lingerie shops popular with the Wichita bachelor and bachelorette crowds may be singing Jailhouse Rock instead of the cheerful theme song that celebrates his Priscilla shops as the place “where fun and fantasy meet,” all thanks to the results of a grand jury investigation.Shop owner Bob Floyd of Oklahoma City was indicted Tuesday on one count of promoting obscenity within one of his two area stores. The class A misdemeanor is punishable by a maximum one year in jail and $2500 fine. At issue is a two-hour oral themed DVD from Extreme 2.0 available online and, apparently, only at one of the two Wichita Priscilla’s stores.
In spite of the indictment, Steve Joseph, Floyd’s attorney, maintains his client’s innocence.
“It’s real simple,” Joseph explained. “The fundamental question in all of these cases where someone elects to proceed in the criminal courts has to do basically with the community standards. What are the community standards of Wichita, Kansas, with regard to the sale or rental of sexually explicit movies to consenting adults for non-public viewing?”
According to Joseph, past cases that he has been involved with indicate that “Wichita, Kansas, like most other places, says it’s OK.”
Citizens group, Operation SouthWind, disagrees and gathered enough signed petitions to force an investigation into the matter. President of the group, Reverend Pete Dominguez, expressed disappointment in the results of the investigation.
“I’m saddened that they only came back with one indictment, but I have no idea of what kind of evidence they looked at and no idea what they determined their decision on,” he confessed.
A representative for the district attorney’s office reported that a trial is scheduled for December 13, although Joseph plans to file a request for a jury trial and expects the case to actually see court time in early spring.