ABILENE, Kan. – New charges have been filed against an adult novelty and video store, even as the business continues to press its case that the county’s longtime push to shut it down is unconstitutional.
The Lion’s Den Adult Superstore has been the focus of controversy since it opened in September 2003 in a renovated former Stucky’s restaurant three miles northwest of Abilene.
During a heated 100-day day span, community activists camped out at the store around-the-clock, holding signs and warning truckers that they would notify their bosses if they stopped at the business.
The latest development came Friday when Dickinson County Attorney Keith Hoffman filed a 10-count complaint against the store. The complaint, filed just one month after a judge dismissed a similar case for technical reasons, accuses the Lion’s Den of illegally promoting obscenity by selling sexual items.
The first case was brought after members of Citizens For Strengthening Community Virtues, which formed shortly after the store opened, collected signatures and presented a petition asking for a grand jury to bring criminal indictments against the Lion’s Den.
In April, a Dickinson County grand jury returned a 29-count indictment alleging that the store promoted obscenity. But that case was thrown out after a judge ruled that the petition was improperly filled out because organizers added information about where those who signed the petition voted when they didn’t include it themselves.
Before the grand jury process began, leaders of the community group that wants to close the Lion’s Den also had filed a complaint, and a county sheriff collected evidence from the business. Prosecutors held the complaint until the legal proceedings on the grand jury indictment were complete.
Meanwhile, a federal lawsuit filed in July by attorneys for the Lion’s Den is still pending in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan., with a status hearing set for Monday. The suit, which names the Dickinson County commissioners and a former county attorney, alleges that an ordinance the commission adopted regulating sexually oriented businesses is unconstitutional.