STAFFORD, VA – A grand jury in Stafford has returned an indictment against the owners of a local adult shop alleging violation of Virginia’s state obscenity laws, according to a report in the Free Lance-Star, a Fredericksburg-based newspaper.The indictment names Pheromoans Inc. and its owners Megan Pacheco and Lesley Mason, and charges each with three misdemeanor obscenity counts, according to the Free Lance-Star. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of one year in jail and a fine of up to $2,500.
According to the Free Lance-Star, Stafford Commonwealth Attorney Dan Chichester was not available for comment and the attorney’s office has not published a statement explaining why charges were filed under the state’s rarely-used obscenity laws.
Rachael Goldstein, an attorney who represents the business, said her firm is aware of the criminal charges but could not comment at this time.
Court records state that Mason, Pacheco, and the business itself are all accused of violating the state obscenity laws between August 1st and November 2nd. The records also indicate that detectives John Hughes and Chad Oxley purchased adult videos from Pheromoans, which is located in North Stafford.
The indictments state that the defendants did “knowingly publish, sell, rent, lend, transport in intrastate commerce, or distribute or exhibit any obscene item,” in violation of Virginia law.
Under Virginia law, material deemed to be “obscene” is that which “considered as a whole, has as its dominant theme or purpose an appeal to the prurient interest in sex, that is, a shameful or morbid interest in nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, excretory functions or products thereof or sadomasochistic abuse, and which goes substantially beyond customary limits of candor in description or representation of such matters and which, taken as a whole, does not have serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value.”
Under Virginia law, a wide range of materials are specifically enumerated as being subject to prosecution as “obscene,” including any book, leaflet, pamphlet, magazine, booklet, picture, painting, bumper sticker, drawing, photograph, film, negative, slide, motion picture, videotape recording, figure, object, article, instrument, novelty device, or “recording or transcription used or intended to be used in disseminating any obscene song, ballad, words, or sounds.”
Virginia’s obscenity law seemingly was crafted as to not miss any item that potentially could be considered “obscene.” The law also states that any “obscene writing, picture or similar visual representation, or sound recording, stored in an electronic or other medium retrievable in a perceivable form,” can be subject to prosecution under the statute.
According to the Free Lance-Star, Commonwealth Attorney Chichester last filed charges under Virginia’s obscenity statute 20 years ago, when Chichester oversaw a sting operation during which police bought adult movies from several businesses in the county.
The investigation resulted in obscenity fines of $500 for four businesses, after Chichester had citizens view the movies and testify that they believed the movies to be obscene and in violation of local community standards.
Defense attorneys in the case contended that the law was too vague, and at least one witness stated that they didn’t find the movies “obscene.” The judge ruled in favor of the prosecution and the fines were allowed to stand.
In recent years, the newly-indicted business, Pheromoans, has been under the gun from local residents who don’t want the shop in their area; the Free Lance-Star reports that the store had been threatened with at least two civil suits prior to its indictment on obscenity charges.
