This is a piece I wrote in December, 2006. The Florida adult industry may have taken one step closer to closure with the Ray Guhn case on Tuesday.
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Porn Valley- The December/January issue of Giant magazine has an article on the Ray Guhn [pictured] case, calling it a landmark one over pornography, obscenity and prostitution in Pensacola, Florida.
Guhn aka, Clinton Raymond McGowen was arrested in June as were two of his business associates, Kevin Patrick Stevens and Andrew Kevin Craft. The charges were racketeering- conducting a criminal enterprise by engaging in prostitution and the manufacture and sale of obscene material. Guhn, who’s pleaded not guilty, is the owner of the porn website cumonherface.com, which, according to an affidavit, generated more than $1 million a year in customer sales. The site had something like 5,000 subscribers who each paid $29.95 monthly to view online videos.
Guhn’s attorney is Lawrence Walters. And, according to Walters, the case could very well shut down the production of adult entertainment filming in the state of Florida. Not only that, it could prompt other state governments to initiate a round of anti-pornography actions.
“Obscenity is completely discretionary,” says Walters. “It’s about the only crime where you don’t know you are guilty until the jury comes back with a verdict.”
“That goes against all the principles of law,” states Walters. According to Veronica Monet described in the article as “a 15-year veteran of the porn and escort industries,” red flags were raised on Guhn’s site- where shots of abnormal penetration, interracial sexual activity and copious amounts of bodily fluids were contained. It’s Monet’s contention that Guhn is a sacrificial lamb.
“Amateur sites don’t have a bankroll of attorneys,” she says. “If you’re Vivid Video, you’ve got [a lot of lawyers]. You can tie the government up in court. It’s going to be lengthy. And expensive.” Monet also seems to think that the government is working the link between prostitution and porn which the porn industry in California successfully fought in the Freeman case. Guhn and his associates were allegedly recruiting local Pensacola men and women to perform and were paid between $300 to $1,000.
Guhn was arrested after an undercover individual posed as someone interested in performing.
“Pornography is when a third party pays two people, presumably actors, to have sex with each other,” thinks Money. “How it distinguishes itself from prostitution is that the man having sex with the woman didn’t pay that woman. Instead, another person, the producer and/or director of that film paid both of those people.”
“This is unheard of,” continues Monet. “How come it’s okay for Vivid Video to pay two people to have sex, but my client can’t pay me?”
Interestingly, the article notes that Alberto Gonzalez’s stepson Jared Freeze worked as a website consultant for Larry Flynt but resigned soon after Gonzalez was nominated to Attorney General.
The Guhn case also seems to be another step in the government’s plan to go after amateur porn sites which have every reason to be scared.
“They can pick anyone out of the barrel,” says Walters. Guhn just happened to be first.