MONROE — One person's “pornography” is another's “art.” That's the crux of the problem in trying to prosecute cases of alleged obscenity, owners of adult-oriented businesses say. That's also why forming an obscenity task force in the Butler County Prosecutor's Office is likely to accomplish little, other than waste taxpayers' money, the business owners said. They also say it's a politically motivated means of gov ernment encroachment on personal freedoms.

        The county commissioners last week decided to give Prosecutor Robin Piper's obscenity task force $120,000 this year and an expected $200,000 next year. In asking for the funding, Mr. Piper said, “This is a step to protect our communities and our children from the negativity that comes with obscenity.” Mr. Piper said prosecuting these cases is important because pornography is a factor in many sex crimes.

        “This right-wing agenda came in last November with the election of President Bush and it filters all the way down to the Butler County prosecutor. He's a Republican, too,” said Jimmy Flynt, president of Hustler Hollywood of Ohio Inc.,which runs a bustling adult-oriented store in Monroe. “This is coming from a bunch of right-wing extremists who try to impose their morals on everyone else.”

        Mr. Flynt said he suspects the December opening of the Hustler “erotic boutique” — which sells clothing, videos, magazines and novelty items — heightened debate about adult-oriented businesses in the county. He also said the task force's formation is tantamount to a declaration of war.

        “If they choose to charge me, they might as well bring their lunch, because it's going to be a long, drawn-out battle,” he said.

        Last month, Mr. Piper told a church group that he will try to stamp out pornographic video sales in Butler County with a combination of civil and criminal actions, a hybrid of approaches used in neighboring Warren and Hamilton counties.

        Mr. Piper did not want to respond directly to Mr. Flynt's statements except to say, “It's not about Jimmy Flynt and it's not just about Hustler. It's about the law. This task force has been set up to protect community standards and enforce the law.”

        But what are community standards? And what is the law?

        The U.S. Supreme Court has devised a three-part test for obscenity. Material is obscene if:

        • The average person would conclude the material appeals to prurient, or lewd, interests.

        • The material depicts, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct that is offensive to community standards.

        • The material, taken as a whole, lacks serious artistic, literary, scientific or social value.

        “It's a very difficult law, but that's the way the U.S. Supreme Court has left it for each community to determine what their community standards are,” said Phil Burress, a West Chester Township man who heads the anti-porn group Citizens for Community Values.

        Greater Cincinnati prosecutions of obscenity cases have sometimes been unsuccessful because of the difficulty in interpreting such standards.

        Last week, a Hamilton County jury cited Ohio law's ambiguity after acquitting a Pendleton sex shop owner of pandering obscenity.

        One clear-cut example of obscenity, Mr. Piper said, would be material depicting a child in a sex act.

        But Mr. Flynt said that's not the kind of thing he'd sell. “That's a no-brainer,” he said. “You mess with kids, you go to jail.”

        In fact, Mr. Flynt says he doesn't think any of his videos meet the legal definition of obscenity. “Two people making love in the most graphic way is not obscene,” he said.

        Although Hustler store staff members wear T-shirts that say, “Relax. It's just sex,” Emily Schwab, 26, of Norwood, said she felt a bit squeamish Friday during her first visit there.

        “I came here out of curiosity, but this stuff isn't my style,” she said.

        Still, when asked what she thought about the obscenity task force, she said, “I don't think anybody should be prosecuted for having a free mind.”

        Barbi Tomaino, whose husband, Peter, owns VIP Video stores in Millville and Hamilton, said, “We would not sell something that depicted children, violent sex or bestiality ... the stores around here are not doing that.”

        Mr. Burress has said he's convinced the materials are out there; he said a 1999 investigation showed a dozen Butler County outlets selling “prosecutable” materials.

        Ms. Tomaino thinks Mr. Burress' group has put extreme pressure on Mr. Piper.

        “Those CCV people are unrelenting,” she said. “The sad thing is that, because of that pressure, there is another fortune of taxpayers' money being spent in the stupidest way. It's 2001! Stop trying to get in my bedroom!”

        Butler County Commissioner Michael A. Fox, who voted to approve the funding for the task force, said that's not the goal.

        “What someone does in their home is their business and I don't want the morality police walking into people's bedrooms, telling them what they can and cannot do,” Mr. Fox said.

        “But when an establishment opens to the public and puts adult material on its shelves, that affects the community,” he said. “What we're trying to do here is not to interfere with people's rights, but to make our county as free of pornography as the law allows.”

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