MILLVILLE
- The presence of two adult video stores in this small village on Hamilton's western edge rankles the Rev. Ray Riddick.
''It makes me feel ashamed every time I see them,'' said the associate pastor of Twinbrook Hills Baptist Church in western Hamilton.
Until recently, he did nothing but grumble about it.
But about three weeks ago, the Rev. Mr. Riddick took action. He organized the Butler County Citizens Against Pornography, an informal group that wants to get rid of the adult video stores in Millville and in other parts of the county.
He appeared last week before county commissioners to ask them to press for the enforcement of county or state laws that he hopes would force adult video stores to close. He has spoken several times with Sheriff Harold Don Gabbard.
''If the county leadership takes a stand against obscenity,'' the Rev. Mr. Riddick said, ''then adult video and book stores can't sneak in the back door and we won't have the problem in Millville, either.''
He said he decided to take action because of the two adult video stores' efforts to raise their public visibility.
A year ago, VIP Video placed an ''Adult Videos'' sign outside its store.
On Sept. 12-13, a porn star and exotic dancer - Jessie James of Tampa, Fla. - made advertised appearances at Millville Video, which rents mainstream and adult videos, to promote her CD-ROM, Hot and Bottled. To counter this event, the Rev. Mr. Riddick and his wife, Lois, hastily organized a prayer vigil in front of her barbershop, a few doors away.
Before hundreds of customers who flocked to the video store, the Rev. Mr. Riddick's group prayed and displayed signs that said, ''Prosecute Pornography'' and ''Clean Up Our County.''
The Rev. Mr. Riddick rented Millville Village Hall on Oct. 9 for a community meeting on what could be done about the video stores. About 200 people attended, including Commissioner Michael Fox, Detective Mike Craft of the sheriff's department and Millville Mayor Harold Hundley.
That meeting led to the formation on Oct. 22 of the Butler County Citizens Against Pornography. The Rev. Mr. Riddick and six others officially formed the group during a meeting in a conference room in his church.
It's an informal, grass-roots group of people who live in Millville, Hamilton, and Hanover and Ross townships.
The Rev. Mr. Riddick has consulted with leaders of the well-established local anti-pornography group Citizens for Community Values (CCV). In fact, the Butler County group is collecting signatures on CCV-written petitions calling for the enforcement of Ohio's obscenity laws. ''They have our full and undying support,'' said Phil Burress, CCV president. ''We teach and train people who want to make their communities a safer place.''
The owners of the two adult video stores say they're operating legal businesses that don't harm the community in any way. They say they're being unfairly targeted by the Rev. Mr. Riddick's group. ''I feel like these people need to get a life,'' said Barbi Tomaino, who with her husband, Peter, owns VIP Video. ''They come from an atmosphere in which people have been educated to believe that anything that is sexual is evil.''
She said she and her husband put the adult videos sign out front to warn adults not to bring children into the store. Her store has attracted customers to other businesses in Millville, she said. ''Our store doesn't detract from the neighborhood,'' Mrs. Tomaino said.
An increasing number of grass-roots groups like the one in Butler County have been popping up around the country to fight sexually oriented business, said Kathy Fondacaro, director of communications for the National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families, a non-profit organization in Springfield Township.
''We get about 10 calls a week from concerned citizens around the country, and many of them want to know where they can start in fighting pornography,'' said Ms. Fondacaro, whose group trains and guides people who want to develop these groups.
''Crime goes through the roof when you have a proliferation of sexually oriented businesses,'' she said. ''People are just not putting up with it any more.''
Commissioners are exploring the use of county zoning laws to close the adult video stores in Millville. On Oct. 15, sheriff's deputies arrested a clerk in VIP Video on a charge of disseminating matter harmful to juveniles.
Commissioner Courtney Combs and Chief Deputy Rick Jones praised the Rev. Mr. Riddick's group for taking the initiative to tackle a difficult community issue. ''If a community stands up and is loud and vocal about it and puts enough pressure on these establishments, you can have a positive effect on getting rid of them,'' Mr. Combs said.
But Mrs. Tomaino said that such anti-porn groups erode cherished free-speech rights. ''I worry about the effect these mind police have on the First Amendment. People need to wake up before it's too late.''
The Rev. Mr. Riddick says free-speech rights were not designed to protect obscenity.
''Pornography is harmful to women, children and property values,'' he said. ''We're not trying to bring about a revolution in Butler County. We only want the laws enforced.''
