RICHMOND, VA — Never mind Richmond strip-club owner Samuel J.T. Moore III had the unmitigated audacity to film an adulterous liaison with two young women at once. What really got the prosecution’s dander up was the age of one of his paramours.She was only 17 when he filmed their sexual escapades, allegedly without either woman’s knowledge, inside his residence above Club Velvet. That, the prosecution contended, makes him a child pornographer and a molester.

Moore and his attorney have asked the court to dismiss the charge, because in Virginia marriage emancipates minors. Besides, they noted, the girl said she was 18.

As it turned out, she would have been… in two weeks.

In response, Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney Michael N. Herring averred neither marriage nor emancipation frees adults from the onus of committing crimes against children.

“She can’t consent if it’s pornography because of her age,” Herring said. “Her emancipation doesn’t consent for her to be a porn star.”

Defining “minor” isn’t the only problem with the case, according to Michael Morchower, Moore’s defense attorney. He has both demanded a copy of the incriminating videotape and asked the judge to suppress the evidence because it was obtained illegally.

The tape was discovered during a February 24th raid of Moore’s residence and the club. Federal, state and local authorities were looking for evidence of prostitution, illegal drug use and public nudity. The videotape was uncovered in the process.

Morchower argues the entire search was outside the bounds of the law because the Internal Revenue Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were not named in the warrant, yet their agents participated in the raid. In addition, state law includes no specific authority to pursue enforcement of any of the crimes mentioned in the warrant except illegal drug use, he said.

Moore also faces charges of unlawfully filming sex with an adult and two charges of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. He is set for trial June 26th – 27th in Richmond Circuit Court.