Jury views sex videos in Athens obscenity trial

ATHENS - The owner of an adult novelty store is on trial this week for allegedly violating a rarely applied Georgia obscenity law. <br> <br> Richard South was charged with two misdemeanor counts of distributing obscene materials from his store Experience after complaints from neighbors, Athens-Clarke police said. <br> <br> Police Chief Jack Lumpkin has called the case a ``quality-of-life issue,&#39;&#39; although South maintains he is being singled out, pointing to other Athens businesses that sell sexually explicit merchandise. <br> <br> Jurors trying to decide whether the materials were obscene have been shown videos that undercover police detectives bought from Experience. The jury of four women and two men is expected to watch up to eight hours of explicit sexual videos during the trial. <br> <br> Prosecutor Kevin Gonzalez told the jury they would decide what met the community standards for obscenity. <br> <br> The county is not believed to have prosecuted an obscenity case since the early to mid-90s. <br> <br> Attorney Alan Begner, who represents South and about half of Atlanta&#39;s 20-plus strip clubs and lingerie modeling parlors, told the jury that South&#39;s business license had been renewed twice since he opened the store in 1999, giving South the impression he wasn&#39;t doing anything wrong. <br> <br> ``Further, the state will fail to show that these materials portrayed hard-core sex in a patently offensive way, and that they are beyond community standards and lack scientific merit,&#39;&#39; Begner said. <br> <br> South, who opened Experience after working for the adult-oriented store 9 1/2 Weeks in Atlanta, said his store has one-way mirrored windows to protect customers&#39; confidentiality, but also promotes openness to sexual materials. <br> <br> ``I don&#39;t like that back-room mentality that&#39;s in a lot of stores,&#39;&#39; South told the Athens Banner-Herald. ``We have a nice, open atmosphere where couples can come in and don&#39;t have to be embarrassed and don&#39;t have to be ashamed. <br> <br> ``I don&#39;t think sex is a dirty thing,&#39;&#39; he said. ``I think it&#39;s perfectly natural. I think (explicit videos) can be medically therapeutic.&#39;&#39;