Police descend on Adult Depot; employees arrested

In the span of a few swift minutes Tuesday morning, Sheriff’s deputies descended on a southern Laurel County pornography store and arrested two employees – the first in a series of arrests likely in connection with the business, officials say.
Dezzera Jordan, 19, and Christopher Price, 22, both of Pioneer, Tenn., were charged with operating an adult-oriented business without a permit and distributing obscene material. Both are misdemeanor offenses.
Jordan and Price are employees at The Adult Depot in southern Laurel County. The store specializes in pornographic magazines, DVDs, clothing and novelties.
Deputies were at The Adult Depot last Friday to serve arrest warrants on storeowner Steve Hale and another employee, Donna Clark. Sheriff’s Detective Johnny Phelps said other warrants have been obtained for store employees.
“Anytime those people show up there … we’ll put them in jail,” he said. “They way it is right now, they aren’t going to be able to operate unless there’s some court ruling or something that says they can.”
The store has been the subject of controversy because of the nature of its product. A group of about 65 southern Laurel County citizens complained last month to county magistrates that it should be closed down because it was operating without a proper permit.
Phelps said police haven’t technically closed the store, but that it was forced to close Tuesday because all on-site employees were arrested.
Chief Deputy Buddy Blair said deputies searched the store Friday, but didn’t remove any items. The ramp up in police activity regarding the business follows a month-long investigation that has included the purchase of some magazines and movies by deputies.
“I was asked by a manager whether we were closing the doors or if we needed them to close. I told them that every day they operate without a permit could be a potential charge.”
In March the Laurel County Fiscal Court passed a strict ordinance regulating adult-oriented businesses – following suit behind several other area cities and counties. The law requires steep business license fees, employee fees, square-footage requirements and mandates at least a 1,000-foot setback from any public access road.
Laurel County Judge-Executive Lawrence Kuhl said Monday the owner still hasn’t been granted a permit to operate and has not applied for one. The store opened on July 5. He said officials have delayed on taking any action in order to follow proper procedure.
“Legally, we had steps to go through,” Kuhl said. “We had to make sure that we did the right thing and go through the right legal procedure.”
Blair said an investigation into The Adult Depot began before citizens complained last month. He added that Hale was slated to turn himself into police Tuesday. At press time, he had not yet been arrested.
The Adult Depot was closed over the weekend, but reopened Monday.
Laurel County officials won a court battle in the late 1990s against Fantasy World – a similar business located on West KY 80 just outside London. The owner was found guilty of distributing obscene material and was fined $500.
London Mayor Ken Smith said he thinks the same thing will likely be tried with The Adult Depot.
“We had a meeting about it three weeks ago,” Smith said. “They discussed that. They decided to go ahead and kind of do it like we did Fantasy World.”
Smith said Fantasy World no longer sells pornographic books, magazines and movies.
“They had to quit … We don’t’ need that in Laurel County,” he said. “Now all they sell is little sex gadgets and stuff like that.”