Five People Charged With Using House for Sex Club : Crime: Operation allegedly took place on a quiet San Fernando Valley street, police say.

Charges were filed Thursday against five people accused of operating an illegal sex club in a four-bedroom house on a quiet middle-class street in the San Fernando Valley.

Operators of the alleged club for “swingers” in Porter Ranch charged a $50-per-couple entrance fee, authorities said.

The charges stem from a May 11 raid that followed an undercover investigation of the club by Los Angeles Police Department vice officers.

The defendants are each charged with 15 misdemeanor charges of violating city zoning, fire and building codes, said Deputy City Atty. Henry Burr. Each of the criminal charges is punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

The alleged zoning violations include operating a sexual encounter business in a residentially zoned area and operating a business in a residential area. Most of the fire and building and safety violations relate to the illegal conversion of a two-car garage into a Jacuzzi room, Burr said.

Identified as owners of the club were Studio City residents Robert Eugene Dow, 47, a restaurant manager, and his wife, Sharon Messina Dow, 39, a television engineer.

The couple operated the sexual encounter business out of a house they rented at 18927 Kilfinan St., Burr said. The owners of the residence were not charged because they were unaware of what was going on, he said.

LAPD officers, with help of undercover male and female officers posing as a “swinging couple,” raided the house, arresting the Dows and three of their employees, police said. About 32 patrons present during the raid were not arrested.

“Some were clothed, some weren’t,” Burr said of the patrons at the time of the raid. A woman who gave live sex shows at the parties approached and touched the male undercover officer, according to an affidavit filed by the city attorney’s office.

A city attorney’s press release said the club provided its patrons with condoms, sexual lubricants and towels, as well as access to rooms designated for group sex.

The Dows had given sex parties at the residence every other Saturday since at least January, Burr said.

The Dows declined to comment on the charges.

The others arrested were Judy Kirk, 40, of Marina del Rey; Michael Samson, 44, of Harbor City, and Andre Lebel, 61, of Woodland Hills, the city attorney’s office said. All three worked at the club, police said.