HOUSTON — A store clerk accused of illegally selling adult toys was found not guilty Wednesday.
Jose Escalante was arrested during a raid at the Adult Video Megaplex on Interstate 45 in north Houston on June 9. Houston police charged him with obscenity, alleging he he was in possession of adult toys with the intent to promote and sell them.
Prosecutors argued that it is illegal to sell an item designed to be used for a sexual act.
But, Escalante’s attorney, Richard Kuniansky said that he believes his client was unfairly singled out, considering hundreds of stores across the Houston area sell similar products.
However, prosecutors said the law is the law, and that anyone caught in possession of six or more adult toys deemed obscene by the law is presumed to be promoting them and could be arrested.
An officer who testified in the trial said an adult toy is obscene if it is contained in a package with a label that indicates the toy is designed to be used in a sexual act.
Although Escalante has said he was only a store clerk, prosecutors said he was a store manager, meaning he was in possession of all of the products being sold in the store. Many of the adult toys not confiscated from the store during the raid are advertised as massagers.
If Escalante had been convicted, he could have been sentenced to spend up to a year in prison and pay a $4,000 fine.
