The Sex Police

No police or prosecutors would discuss the details of the cases with The Pitch.

The recent action isn't the first time that a grand jury has met in Johnson County to consider what's obscene. In 1989, an anti-pornography coalition called for a grand jury to define obscenity. Representatives from Hollywood at Home testified before the grand jury, which also targeted other businesses, but no indictments were issued. In the end, the grand jury issued a four-page report that suggested banning sexually explicit videos featuring incest, rape, sex with minors, bondage, torture, flagellation or bestiality. The report also recommended outlawing "fetish" films and sex tapes "lacking significant story line or plot." The grand jury also set guidelines for stocking sexually explicit material and set a minimum age of 21 for renting or selling sexually explicit material. The report became an informal guide for prosecutors and businesses.

The latest Johnson County grand jury formed in mid-July and disbanded on October 2. Before they broke, the jurors issued a final set of recommendations. They called on law enforcement to enforce obscenity laws and on the media to educate the public about them. They asked business owners to reconsider selling potentially obscene material and urged them to stock "all questionable material" out of sight of minors. Finally, they encouraged lawmakers and district courts to retain the grand jury as a tool.

The statement lacked guidelines for business owners or prosecutors as to what exactly this grand jury considered obscene.

Instead, it signed off on criminal charges that will be decided by a Johnson County jury, which will have to review a stack of dirty magazines, DVDs and sex toys.

Dozens of piñatas hang from the ceiling of Gringo Loco. They hang so low that customers have to duck to navigate the aisles and avoid getting kicked in the head by a candy-filled Spider-Man.

The shelves of Gringo Loco, a tiny Latino convenience store in an Olathe strip mall, are stocked with ethnic foods, knickknacks and Spanish-language CDs.

The grand jury accused the store of selling Babysitter #18, a 2004 film about sitters watching a 30-year-old baby, seducing a police officer and getting the attention of a "cop — and his night stick."

Cosby likes to lump stores such as Gringo Loco and Hollywood at Home with chain adult book­stores and strip clubs on his list of SOBs.

And Cosby's cause has caught on in Overland Park. A parent filed a complaint against Spirit Halloween, a costume shop affiliated with Spencer's Gifts.

On September 2, Mark Rocklage called the Overland Park Police Department after his 12-year-old daughter showed him one of the store's adult costumes. Sgt. Jim Weaver says the police investigated but didn't cite the store.

Instead, the police handed their findings over to the Johnson County District Attorney's Office, which tossed the case to a grand jury.

Rocklage declined to speak with The Pitch, but he told WDAF Channel 4 that the costumes showed male and female body parts. "It also showed bestiality," he told the TV station.

The costume Rocklage was referring to was called "country lov'n," which depicts a pajama-clad hillbilly attached at the crotch to an inflatable sheep in fishnets. The costume sells for $49.99 on Spirit Halloween's Web site.

A grand jury accused Spirit Halloween of stocking racy costumes where minors could see them. Among the other objectionable costumes was a "snake charmer" costume with a cobra growing from its crotch; a "tricky dick" inflatable-penis costume; and a "wet T-shirt winner," with a see-through white T-shirt and "Z cup polyfoam breasts."

Fortunately for Spirit Halloween, a jury won't have to decide if the costumes are obscene. Johnson County District Attorney Phill Kline dismissed the charges against Spirit Halloween on October 10 after the store agreed to take the four costumes off the shelves and put them behind the counter.

However, a jury may still have to decide if dildos, a butt plug, a cock ring and an inflatable cheerleader doll named Chrissy, sold at an Olathe Priscilla's, are obscene. The Priscilla's, at 1848 East Santa Fe, is also charged with selling the porn flick Teen Cum Targets.