SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — John Haltom, a Midwestern businessman operating a chain of adult novelty stores stretching from Missouri to Utah, has been sentenced to 30 days in jail after being convicted of selling an obscene video to a minor. The minor was, in fact, a police decoy operation.
Haltom, 36, from Lincoln, Nebraska, received the sentence on Monday, which could have been up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. However, District Judge Dennis Fuchs suspended the majority of the sentence, leaving only 30 days of jail time and $2,000 of the fine to be served.
“As long as you choose to do the type of business you do in our community, you must abide by the laws,” Judge Fuchs stated to Haltom, who was present in court dressed in dark slacks, a pink cotton dress shirt, and a purple-striped tie.
Haltom was ordered to begin his jail term on Tuesday morning and was also placed on probation for three years. Judge Fuchs sternly warned Haltom against any probation violations. “I just give you fair warning, I will not hesitate to send you to prison,” Fuchs cautioned.
The conviction stems from a jury trial in March, where Haltom was found guilty of a felony charge: dealing in material harmful to a minor. The incident took place at Doctor John’s Lingerie and Novelty Boutique in Midvale, a suburb of Salt Lake City.
The accusation was based on Haltom selling an adult video to the 17-year-old daughter of Dan Pearson, who was then the Assistant Police Chief of Midvale. She was acting as a decoy in an operation conducted on August 4, 2000. During the trial, jurors were shown 16 and a half minutes of the hour-long video in question.
John Haltom’s lawyer, Andrew McCullough, assured Judge Fuchs that a sale to a minor is “something that will not ever be repeated.” McCullough had anticipated a deal with county prosecutors that would have avoided jail time and pleaded with the judge to reconsider, but “I don’t believe jail will be helpful for him,” McCullough argued.
McCullough announced plans to appeal the conviction on several grounds, including entrapment, and will attempt to have Haltom’s sentence suspended pending the appeal process.
Speaking outside the courtroom, Haltom expressed surprise at the severity of the sentence. “I thought I was going to get 60 days,” he commented.
Judge Fuchs had delayed sentencing for ten months following the conviction to accommodate Haltom’s availability in court. Haltom had been unable to travel to Utah previously due to serving a jail sentence in Omaha, Nebraska, for similar obscenity charges. These charges arose after police purchased videos at his store in Omaha. He was released from jail on December 4.
“When you go north of Mexico and south of Canada, there are only two places where adult expression is repressed, and that is Omaha, Neb., and Salt Lake City, Utah,” Haltom had previously declared to The Associated Press, underscoring his defiant stance. “I will fight to the end, to my death, to liberate these two cities.”
Outside the courtroom on Monday, he remained unyielding. “If we stop fighting for our rights, what’s next? Are they going to take away your religious rights?” he questioned rhetorically. “What you do in your own bedroom is your own business.”
Haltom’s legal challenges are far from over, even after serving his 30-day jail sentence. He still faces charges of distributing obscene videos at his store in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. This store is one of ten that he owns across five states.
Furthermore, Doctor John’s Inc. initiated legal action last month against Sioux City, Iowa, alleging that the city’s zoning regulations were specifically designed to prevent his Doctor John’s boutique from opening in the area.
In May, the Utah Supreme Court rejected Haltom’s challenge to the state’s sexually oriented business licensing law. Subsequently, on December 1, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Haltom’s appeal without comment.
Currently, Haltom’s business operations include stores in Midvale and Roy, Utah; four in Nebraska; two in Missouri; and single locations in Iowa and Colorado.
(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
