TAVARES, FL — Oh, what a difference a nipple makes. Depending on whether or not barely visible medical tape qualifies as enough of a cover-up for body-shy legislators and sex-negative neighbors, a Lake County strip club may find itself in hot water. According to the Orlando Sentinel, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office had been watching the dancers at Fantasy Gentlemen’s Club on US Highway 27 for two months before they felt they’d seen enough. At issue where citizen complaints alleging that the club had advertised the sale of pornographic materials – and that the nipples of the dancers were visible, meaning that they were dancing topless.
When the officers made their move, they served a search warrant at the only-adult entertainment establishment in the county, issued several citations to club owner, David Wasserman, and arrested one of the club’s dancers and its disc jockey.
The two employees, whom Wasserman promptly fired, have been charged with possession of marijuana.
As for accusations that the club’s dancers wear nothing on top while performing, Wasserman insists that they are not true.
“In the dark, it’s hard to tell,” he observes concerning the visibility of medical tape worn over the dancers’ breasts while inside the club. “Any club in Central Florida; they do the exact same thing.”
In addition to the marijuana carried by the Fantasy Gentlemen’s Club dancer and DJ, Sgt. John Herrell of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office told the press that police had cited Wasserman for 300 – 400 seized items deemed pornographic; primarily videos, which they contend he sold without a license.
Additionally, Wasserman has been charged with operating an adult-entertainment business without a proper license. Wasserman has countered by stating that he had obtained such a license when his club opened in February of last year, but it has since expired and renewal has been difficult. In fact, the club owner was at his lawyer’s office working on necessary licensing paperwork when he learned that his club had been raided by police.
As well as contending that requiring such licenses is unconstitutional, something he once sued the city of Kissimmee over – and won — Wasserman insists that he did not sell enough pornographic materials to require a license for doing so.
Perhaps most upsetting to the club owner, however, is not that he has been cited for illegal activity, but that investigators turned off the business’ security camera during the raid. According to Wasserman, he has been contacted by the American Civil Liberties Union concerning the matter.
Although Herrell insists that turning off the video system was necessary in order to protect the identity of undercover agents, Wasserman points out that they were masked and believes that “if it’s not illegal (to turn off surveillance systems), I think it should be.”
Prior to opening an adult-entertainment business, Wasserman was a First Amendment attorney primarily working within the adult entertainment field. After a 2003 arrest for growing marijuana in his apartment, his license was suspended.
“I was burned out on the practice of law,” he told the Sentinel, “Unfortunately, I may have to reapply, because I need it now.”
