BY STEVE KEMME
The Cincinnati Enquirer
HAMILTON -- The attorney for an adult video store owner tried to chip away in Butler County Common Pleas Court on Wednesday at the integrity of a police undercover operation that resulted in the owner's indictment.
Peter Tomaino, owner of VIP Video in Millville, is standing trial on a felony charge of disseminating obscene material to a juvenile and a misdemeanor charge of disseminating material harmful to a juvenile.
The charges stem from the sale of four adult videos in October by a clerk in his store, Billy J. Doan, to a 17-year-old who was sent in by the Butler County Sheriff's Department undercover vice unit with his parents' permission.
The prosecution and the defense rested their cases Wednesday. The jury will begin deliberating today.
Sgt. Greg Blankenship described to the jury Wednesday how he arranged to send Mark Frybarger, then 17, into VIP Video on Oct. 14 to try to buy adult videos. The law prohibits the sale of adult videos to anyone under 18.
The teen had bought an adult video the night before at the store from a different clerk by presenting his 37-year-old father's driver's license and paying for the video with his stepmother's credit card.
Carl Frybarger, Mark's father, testified that he suggested that his son try to buy a video there because he wanted to close the store.
Carl Frybarger contacted the sheriff's department that night, and Sgt. Blankenship developed the plan for Mark to enter the store the next day without any identification and pay for the videos with cash.
Mark Frybarger testified that he told Ms. Doan he was 37 and had bought a video there the previous night. She sold the videos to him and was arrested.
H. Louis Sirkin, Mr. Tomaino's attorney, questioned Sgt. Blankenship about the undercover operation.
Sgt. Blankenship admitted he had not photographed Mark Frybarger on Oct. 14. Mr. Sirkin said such a photograph would have made it easier for a jury to determine whether he was dressed to look older or younger. Mr. Sirkin also questioned the propriety of sending a 17-year-old to buy an adult video.
"What if a father told you he sent his son to buy cocaine and he wanted you to arrest the dealer?" he said to Sgt. Blankenship. "You wouldn't be very happy, would you?"
The jury watched one of the videos sold to Mark Frybarger. Passion for Fashion consisted primarily of four scenes showing explicit sex between men and women.
This is the second of four Butler County trials concerning two adult video stores in Millville. VIP Video is involved in three of them, and Millville Video is involved in one. Ms. Doan has been convicted of a misdemeanor charge of disseminating material harmful to a juvenile.
