Eight Accused in Sex Video Case
Los Angeles city prosecutors filed criminal charges this week against eight people who police officers allegedly watched film a sex video next door to a day-care center.
Deputy City Atty. Brian Williams said when officers arrived at the home last July they reported seeing eight men and women performing sex acts, including oral copulation and intercourse in and around a swimming pool. After a phone tip from the owner of the day-care center, vice detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department’s West Valley Division raided the home in the 17100 block of Killion Street.
According to a police report, the day-care center owner said she could hear the people “screaming and having sex” as she sat on her spa deck in her backyard.
Prosecutors said they waited so long to file charges in the case in order to research whether the actors would be protected under the 1st Amendment’s protection of free speech.
Officers said 49-year-old Northridge resident Tom Sawyer was the film’s producer and cameraman. Sawyer was charged with one count of filming without a city permit while the home’s owner, Jose Chiapetta, was charged with one count of lewd conduct.
The eight actors and actresses were also charged with one count each of lewd conduct.
They will all be arraigned March 5 in Los Angeles Municipal Court and face a maximum of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.
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