By Marie McCain
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Jennifer Dute, the Anderson Township woman convicted last month of illegally selling sexually explicit videos that starred herself, was sentenced Tuesday to one year in prison.

Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Patrick Dinkelacker, in handing down the decision, said he was "personally repulsed" by the videos Mrs. Dute sold within county limits.

"I thought it was gross, and it took a lot for me to watch these videos," the judge said. "The bottom line is ... a jury told us they will not tolerate the ilk of (videos) Jennifer 2, Jennifer 3, Jennifer 7 and Jennifer 6. They were deemed to be obscene."

Dressed in a beige jumpsuit and flanked by her attorneys, H. Louis Sirkin and Jennifer Kinsley, Mrs. Dute struggled to maintain her composure as the sentence for four counts of pandering obscenity was pronounced. Her attorneys had asked the judge for probation.

She has been held in the Hamilton County Justice Center since the jury verdict 15 days ago.

Under the law, it's up to juries to determine whether sexually explicit materials violate a particular community's standards. The videos involved in the case showed the 32-year-old Mrs. Dute having sex with one or more partners. Prosecutors said Mrs. Dute's 61-year-old husband, Alan, shot the tapes.

Mr. Dute also was charged with pandering obscenity, but he was found not guilty.

Investigators first learned of the movies when they found an Internet Web site that advertised the videos and ridiculed Sheriff Simon L. Leis, a longtime opponent of pornography.

Mrs. Dute, the mother of a 7-month-old boy, apologized profusely during the Tuesday hearing for her actions, saying that all traces of the mail-order business - including her Web sites, a post office box, advertisements and any additional copies of the videos - have been dismantled, closed, canceled or erased.

During trial, defense attorneys had argued that Mrs. Dute's videos - which she marketed, advertised and performed in - were political speech meant to counter the staunch conservatism of such leaders as Sheriff Leis.

One of her Web sites bore the sheriff's name. On it, Mrs. Dute used an expletive to describe the sheriff.

"I apologize to Mr. Leis," she said. "It was a stupid mistake, and I realize that."

Judge Dinkelacker wasn't impressed with her concession. He called her actions "stupid" and "mean-spirited."

"You personally invited this," he added. "You decided to use the First Amendment as a sword instead of a shield. It is meant to be used as a shield."

The judge said Mrs. Dute reneged on a 1999 agreement in which her business pleaded guilty to selling obscene materials. At the time, the judge said, she agreed not to sell obscene videos from or in Hamilton County in violation of statute.

E-mail mmccain@enquirer.com