Woman Who Sold Sex Toy Has Charges Dropped
By Jon Herskovitz
DALLAS (Reuters) - A Texas woman charged with violating obscenity laws for selling a sexual toy and explaining to her customer how to use it has had the case against her dismissed, court officials said on Monday.
Joanne Webb, a mother of three and a former schoolteacher in the town of Burleson near Forth Worth, was facing up to a year in jail after she sold a vibrator at a private party to two undercover police officers posing as a married couple.
The case received national attention because it touched off a debate on whether a person should be jailed for selling vibrators to adults.
Johnson County Attorney Bill Moore said in a statement that his office last week asked a judge to dismiss the case in order to prevent the county from wasting resources on it.
Texas law allows for the sale of sexual toys as long as they are billed as novelties. But when a person markets the items in a direct manner that shows how they are used in sex, it is considered criminal obscenity.
BeAnn Sisemore, the lawyer representing Webb in the case, said she has brought a federal suit against Texas officials seeking to overturn the obscenity law. She thinks the pending federal suit, along with public pressure, helped lead to the dismissal in the Webb case.
Further reading: http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/st...f/story/0002/20040720/0840642502.htm&sc=reodd
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i find this RIDICULOUS!!!! i dont see anything wrong with having an all women's party with the sex toys if all guests are over 18 and legally an adult -- i think women should be educated on the uses of those toys -- its such a WASTE of legal funds and time to prosecute this case if they continued with the trial! im just glad its been dropped cuz i think its
to be wasting the funds on prosecuting this! what are ur thoughts to this qq
By Jon Herskovitz
DALLAS (Reuters) - A Texas woman charged with violating obscenity laws for selling a sexual toy and explaining to her customer how to use it has had the case against her dismissed, court officials said on Monday.
Joanne Webb, a mother of three and a former schoolteacher in the town of Burleson near Forth Worth, was facing up to a year in jail after she sold a vibrator at a private party to two undercover police officers posing as a married couple.
The case received national attention because it touched off a debate on whether a person should be jailed for selling vibrators to adults.
Johnson County Attorney Bill Moore said in a statement that his office last week asked a judge to dismiss the case in order to prevent the county from wasting resources on it.
Texas law allows for the sale of sexual toys as long as they are billed as novelties. But when a person markets the items in a direct manner that shows how they are used in sex, it is considered criminal obscenity.
BeAnn Sisemore, the lawyer representing Webb in the case, said she has brought a federal suit against Texas officials seeking to overturn the obscenity law. She thinks the pending federal suit, along with public pressure, helped lead to the dismissal in the Webb case.
Further reading: http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/st...f/story/0002/20040720/0840642502.htm&sc=reodd
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i find this RIDICULOUS!!!! i dont see anything wrong with having an all women's party with the sex toys if all guests are over 18 and legally an adult -- i think women should be educated on the uses of those toys -- its such a WASTE of legal funds and time to prosecute this case if they continued with the trial! im just glad its been dropped cuz i think its
to be wasting the funds on prosecuting this! what are ur thoughts to this qq
That's unreal! I agree that it's a complete waste of resources in prosecuting that lady for selling it at a PRIVATE party! :roll: Like Licana said -- all were adults and at a private party...that wasn't really THAT illegal. geez..those people who prosecuted that lady, to get a frigging LIFE!
