Wednesday, January 20, 1999
Strip-for-groceries teacher not guilty
Judge criticizes food stamp law
BY DAN HORN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
After deciding he couldn't get by on his teacher's salary, Benford Clay put up some posters last year announcing that he would work for food.
His offer: Buy him $300 in groceries and he'd dance naked at parties.
Although the part-time job landed Mr. Clay in court Tuesday, a Cincinnati judge ruled he did not commit a crime when he accepted groceries bought with food stamp debit cards.
Prosecutors argued that the purchases were an illegal use of food stamps, punishable by up to 18 months in prison.
But Common Pleas Judge Thomas Crush said Mr. Clay never used the cards himself and therefore cannot be penalized for merely accepting groceries as payment.
“It's an interesting method of using food stamps,” Judge Crush said. “What can you say about this use of public funds, except that maybe some people aren't as hungry as they appear to be.”
While the judge did not condone Mr. Clay's dancing or his billing method, he said the food stamp law was too vague to support a conviction against the Dayton, Ohio, teacher.
Defense attorney Richard Goldberg said his client, who teaches learning-disabled children, was suspended pending the outcome of the case.
He said he expects Mr. Clay to return to work within the next few weeks.
“He'll get his job back,” Mr. Goldberg said. “He didn't break the law. All he did was accept the food.”
Mr. Clay attracted the attention of authorities last year when they found one of his posters advertising his “Nastymixxx” dance service.
Billing himself as the “world's most talked about male stripa,” Mr. Clay offered to dance at baby showers, birthday parties and family reunions. He also offered explicit videotapes starring himself.
At the bottom of the poster, he noted that “food stamps and Pay Ease cards are accepted.”
Although police charged him with promoting prostitution when he was arrested in October, that charge was later dropped. The remaining charge — illegal use of food stamps — was decided Tuesday by Judge Crush.
Prosecutors said Mr. Clay committed a crime because the electronic debit cards are intended solely for food stamp recipients.
Judge Crush, calling the food stamp law “an amorphous mess,” said it does not apply to Mr. Clay because he never personally used the cards.
In testimony Tuesday, an undercover officer said Mr. Clay went shopping with her and selected all the groceries. But at the checkout line, she said, he insisted that she use the card to pay.
She said he bagged the groceries, loaded it into his van and then gave her a contract promising to perform at her party.
“Based upon the evidence, there still can be a finding of a violation,” said Assistant Prosecutor Cynthia Fazio.
Judge Crush, however, said the law seems to suggest that any food stamp recipient who gives food to someone else would be guilty of a crime.
“The law, as written, simply doesn't make any sense,” the judge said.
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