BY STEVE KEMME
The Cincinnati Enquirer
HAMILTON -- A Butler County video store clerk who sold four adult videos to a 17-year-old was convicted Wednesday of a misdemeanor crime, but cleared of a more serious felony charge.
After two hours of deliberation, a jury of eight men and four women found Billy J. Doan, a clerk for VIP Video in Millville, guilty of disseminating material harmful to a juvenile.
But the jury found her not guilty of disseminating obscene material harmful to a juvenile. To convict her of this charge, the jury needed to believe the videos were legally obscene.
Ms. Doan, 60, of Cleves, cried quietly as she walked out of the courtroom with two family members, but did not comment.
"We're disappointed she was found guilty of the misdemeanor count, but very happy she was found not guilty of the felony," said her attorney, Mary Lou Kusel.
The misdemeanor charge carries a penalty ranging from probation to six months in jail. The felony charge would have carried a sentence of six months to a year in jail.
Judge H.J. Bressler of Butler County Common Pleas Court scheduled sentencing for Ms. Doan on Sept. 18.
The verdict was a partial victory for the prosecution and a Butler County anti-pornography group.
Although disappointed Ms. Doan wasn't convicted of the felony, assistant county prosecutor Dan Gattermeyer said: "It does place a responsibility on the video store owners not to sell their adult tapes to juveniles."
The Rev. Ray Riddick, founder of Butler County Citizens Against Pornography, said he felt encouraged despite the split verdict. "They have taken a step in making Butler County a safer place for our kids," said the Rev. Mr. Riddick, associate pastor of Twinbrook Hills Baptist Church in Hamilton. "All we wanted is for an opportunity to let the legal system work, and it's working."
Ms. Doan was accused of recklessly selling four adult videos Oct. 14 to Mark Frybarger, who was 17 then and lived in Millville. He had bought an adult video in the store Oct. 13 from a different clerk by presenting his 37-year-old father's driver's license and paying for it with his stepmother's credit card.
His father, Carl Frybarger, had testified in this trial that he developed the idea to let his underage son buy an adult video there because he wanted to close down the store.
The next day, wearing a hidden microphone supplied by the sheriff's office, Mark Frybarger entered the store and bought four videos from Ms. Doan without showing identification to prove he was at least 18.
This is the first of four Butler County trials concerning two adult video stores in Millville, just west of Hamilton. VIP Video is involved in three of them, and Millville Video is involved in one.
Peter Tomaino, the owner of VIP Video, faces the same charges as Ms. Doan. His trial is scheduled to begin Aug. 24 before Judge Bressler.
Ms. Doan, Mr. Tomaino and another store clerk also must stand trial beginning Oct. 5 before Judge Anthony Valen on three counts of pandering obscenity. Undercover officers bought videos at the store in February, police said.
After entering the store Oct. 14, Mark Frybarger told Ms. Doan he was 37. He said he did not have his driver's license with him, but he had bought a video the previous night with a credit card.
Mr. Gattermeyer said in closing arguments that she was reckless in selling him the videos without seeing proof he was 18. He also said the videos were obscene.
"It would have been reasonable for her to demand an ID when he entered," he said.
Ms. Kusel said in closing arguments that Ms. Doan was set up by police and duped by Mark Frybarger. "She made an error in judgment, but it was not a reckless error," she said.
Ms. Doan testified Wednesday she believed Mark Frybarger was "definitely over 21." She said when people purchase videos at VIP Video by credit card, their identification is checked twice. She said since Mark Frybarger had bought a video by credit card the previous night, she believed he was at least 18.
