Prosecutor Uses Anti-Gay Sex Statute to Charge Six Men in Prostitution Case
Associated Press, March 31, 2002
http://www.showmenews.com/2002/Mar/20020331News014.asp
HILLSBORO (AP)—Hoping to convict some adult video
store patrons suspected of engaging in a prostitution ring, authorities have
charged six men with having homosexual sex.
Under Missouri law, "deviate sexual intercourse with another person of
the same sex" is a rarely prosecuted misdemeanor. Jefferson County
prosecutor Bob Wilkins called the law "obscure."
He said that he was hesitant to use the controversial statute, criticized
by gay rights advocates as homophobic. But Wilkins said that it was necessary
to stamp out the "open and notorious activities" at the video store.
"It is not my intention to judge the conduct of consenting
adults," Wilkins told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch for a story in
yesterday’s editions. "This is not about throwing homosexuals in jail.
This is about trying to prevent future conduct."
The men were arrested earlier this month in a raid on Award Video in High
Ridge. Those patrons who were arrested for having sex were in the pornographic
theater area of the store at the time of the raid.
[Home] [News] [Missouri]
