DVDs seized in porn store raid

LICENSING police yesterday seized more than 1000 DVDs and videos from a Newcastle adult store which were allegedly unclassified or classified as too explicit.

Officers raided Erotica Plus on Hunter Street about 11am and spent several hours sifting through DVDs and videos.

Newcastle City duty officer Inspector Steve Gallagher said the search warrant followed a complaint made against the store.

No one has been charged. The DVDs and videos have been sent away to be checked.
It is an offence under the Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) Enforcement Act 1995 to sell or publicly exhibit a film classified "refused classification" or "X18+".

'Outing' threat on porn raid

THE adult entertainment industry has threatened to "out" some public figure customers, including police, politicians and the judiciary, for what it claims to be hypocrisy over raids on adult stores allegedly selling material not allowed under NSW law.

The Eros Foundation, which represents pornography traders, said although its industry was confidential by nature, it would be prepared to illustrate who bought pornography classified under "X18+" to illustrate the laws were not representative of the general public's views and needed changing.

The threat follows a raid on a Hunter Street, Newcastle, adult shop on Tuesday where 1234 DVDs and 315 videos were seized by police who alleged they did not have classification or were classified as being too explicit to be sold in NSW.

Eros Foundation co-ordinator Robbie Swan said there had been at least a dozen similar raids on shops in Sydney and the Riverina in the past 12 months following at least three years where no searches were performed anywhere in NSW.

Mr Swan said Commonwealth law deemed the non-violent pornography could be sold in Australia but it was illegal to do so under many state laws, including NSW.

Stores in the Northern Territory and ACT can sell pornography classified as being X18+, which the foundation described as being non-violent erotica showing penetration.
He said it was not illegal to buy or possess the pornography.

A police spokesman said officers would be happy to speak with the foundation about its concerns but that police enforced the law and were not law makers.