A former Movie Buffs store manager testified Tuesday her objections to the store adding sexually explicit videos went unheeded.
Amy Blosch, 24, said she quit her job at the American Fork video store shortly after police raided it and seized about 1,000 videos in October 1996. She said she felt some of the store's sexually oriented videos were inappropriate for community standards.Blosch described some of the videos the store stocked at the time she became manager in 1994.
"They were a standard story line with sex, nudity, partial nudity . . . On some of the boxes, they were labeled `erotic drama' or `erotic thriller,' " she said.
In February of 1996, she said the store began receiving videos that were "more graphic" than what the store previously stocked. The new videos primarily focused on sexual themes, she said.
Blosch placed some of the videos behind the counter but was told to put them on the shelf by Movie Buffs supervisors, she testified. In mid-1996, the store set up an "adult room" where the new sexually oriented videos were kept.
Blosch was the first witness called by Utah County prosecutors Tuesday in a preliminary hearing. Fourth District Judge Lynn W. Davis will determine whether enough evidence exists to order Movie Buffs owners to stand trial on felony charges of distributing pornography.
Movie Buffs owners Susan Janae Kingston, Larry Warren Peterman and Marjorie Ann Cramer were charged in December 1996 with a total of 24 felony counts and one misdemeanor. Charges include 15 counts of distributing pornographic material, a third-degree felony; eight counts of dealing in harmful material to a minor, second-degree felonies; racketeering, a second-degree felony; and distributing pornographic material, a class A misdemeanor.
Davis dismissed the eight counts of dealing in harmful material to a minor against each of three defendants as the hearing began Tuesday. The minor who would have testified "is fairly young, impressionable and is somewhat torn by this" and reluctant to testify, said Utah County deputy attorney Curtis Larsen.
Prosecutors planned to call three witnesses and show 16 hours of Movie Buffs videos during the hearing, which is scheduled to last throughout the week. Davis said the courtroom will remain closed to anyone under 18 while the videos are being shown.
In October 1996, Utah County law enforcement officials armed with a search warrant seized about 1,000 videos from Movie Buffs stores in American Fork and Lehi. Also seized were customer invoices.