1. Sex club to close its doors in Rahway
2. Desirable Damsels in Distress
3. Man gets 40 to 60 years in prison for kidnapping and raping wife
1. Sex club to close its doors in Rahway
2. Desirable Damsels in Distress
3. Man gets 40 to 60 years in prison for kidnapping and raping wife
Sex club to close its doors in Rahway
by Suzanne C. Russell
The Home News Tribune (Central New Jersey)
October 5, 2006
RAHWAY – A Main Street swingers club, called Beginnings, is about to come to an end.
The operator of Beginnings has agreed to leave the city by Dec. 1, according to Mayor James Kennedy. The city issued dozens of citations to the business at 1519 Main St. during a late-night raid earlier this year.
The club advertises itself on its Web site as "New Jersey's Premier Club for Couples" in operation at the same location since 1982. Beginnings, a private club catering to married and committed couples, is operated by Tokar Services.
"Tokar Services has been a thorn in this city for many years; a well-known secret where sex acts were protected by laws intended to preserve the rights of Americans," Kennedy said. "At long last, the sex club is on its way out of Rahway."
Kennedy praised the efforts of City Health Officer Rick Proctor, who is also a Union County freeholder, and Lenore A. Slothower, director of building, engineering, planning and economic development, who were accompanied by Rahway police inside the sex club in March after a court order was obtained authorizing the late-night administrative search warrant.
The two officials issued a total of 39 citations against the sex club.
Slothower said a sex club is not a permitted use in the city's downtown business zone. She said sex clubs are not permitted in any zone in the city. Rahway does permit adult entertainment in light-industry zones, with conditions.
Several city officials said the club is considered the worst-kept secret in town. The building has a street-level storefront that just says Tokar.
The Web site indicates membership is approaching 650 couples.
Douglas Burns, a Springfield attorney representing Tokar Services, said the owner of the building had several tenants, including one who used a rental hall in the building for Beginnings, which he described as a "meeting location for an adult swingers club."
Burns said the operator denies that anything improper took place at Beginnings.
"The club operated without incident for 20-plus years," said Burns, adding the business and building owner felt they were being harassed by the city.
"I am dedicated to getting rid of prostitution, drug dealers and sex clubs. Rahway will not be home to sexual exploitation and vice crimes," said Kennedy, a Democrat running for re-election next month against Republican Lawrence Bodine.
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To read this entire article, go to: http://www.thnt.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061005/NEWS0103/610050424/1001
To respond, write to: the author at srussell@thnt.com or the editors at letters@thnt.com or comment on article page
Desirable Damsels in Distress:
Behind the scenes of a sleepy-fetish video shoot
by Rachel Kramer Bussel (from opinion column "Lusty Lady")
The Village Voice (NYC)
October 5, 2006
I wasn't sure what to expect from my first visit to a damsel-in-distress video shoot. Aside from the light and video camera, the only clue as to what I was about to witness was the zesty mint-flavored fake blood in the bathroom of Evangeline von Winter and her partner and director Leviathan. The duo makes short films featuring women who pass out, whether through chloroform, hypnosis, gassing, or injection. The categories range from ghost stories to detective tales and include titles like Gassed Love, The Luckless Reporter, and Bound for Business. Remember the scandalous bondage and foot fetish films staring Sarah Kozer of The Apprentice? These D-in-D videos are similar but tamer. At this shoot, the monster Gabba captures Evangeline and uses a paper towel with chloroform to knock her out. The camera focuses on the damsel sprawled across the couch in a deep sleep. When she finally wakes up, there's a close-up of her being forced back into slumber with the help of a syringe.
While damsel-in-distress videos are related to bondage flicks, the couple specifically target sleepy-fetish fans who want fully clothed scenes with no explicitly sexual content. The duo's site (evangelinevonwinter.com) makes a necessary distinction: "Please note that this is not An adult website!!!" While this is true, the flicks are clearly intended to arouse someone, if not your average porn buyer. Can these films be considered porn if there's no nudity? Perhaps not, but they're still intended as jerk-off material and have some questionable overtones.
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To read this entire article, go to: http://www.villagevoice.com/people/0641,bussel,74660,24.html
To respond, write to: the author at mail@rachelkramerbussel.com or the editors at http://www.villagevoice.com/aboutus/index.php?page=contact
Man gets 40 to 60 years in prison for kidnapping and raping wife
by Cedric Ricks
The Kalamazoo Gazette (Michigan)
October 3, 2006
A Kalamazoo Township man was sentenced Monday to 40 to 60 years in prison for kidnapping and raping his estranged wife.
Marvin Scott Horn, 39, was convicted by a jury in July of one count of kidnapping and four counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. Kalamazoo County Circuit Judge Richard Ryan Lamb sentenced him to concurrent prison terms of 40 to 60 years on each count.
The victim testified that after she met Horn for dinner at a Portage restaurant on Jan. 27, he lured her out to his truck, where he grabbed her by the throat, wrapped her in duct tape and tied her wrists and ankles. He drove her to a home on Reed Avenue in Kalamazoo, forced her into a room and repeatedly raped her that night and the next morning, she said.
Horn countered that the two had a night of consensual sex that included acts of bondage. He did not comment at his sentencing.
Lamb, in exceeding the sentencing guidelines, said there was no explanation as to why the victim would consent to bondage that included use of duct tape that ripped out huge chunks of her hair. “The jury heard the evidence, and, in my view, their verdict was more than amply supported,'' he said.
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To read this entire article, go to: http://www.mlive.com/news/kzgazette/index.ssf?/base/news-19/1159888900119760.xml&coll=7
To respond, write to: the author at cricks@kalamazoogazette.com
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