A state law enacted 10 years ago to restrict sexual activity and limit operating hours at strip clubs and adult book stores has been spottily enforced, and in some cases not at all.

The Community Defense Act, as it was called, was approved in 2007 at the urging of Citizens for Community Values, a Cincinnati-based conservative religious organization. The group proposed the act as an initiated state statute, prompting the General Assembly to pass watered-down legislation with similar provisions. Otherwise, the group could have gone to the ballot to put the issue to a public vote.

The heated Statehouse debate included young women in tight, pink "Dancers for Democracy" t-shirts greeting lawmakers outside the House chamber. The women later violated House rules by unveiling a banner in the balcony during the floor debate.

Then-Gov. Ted Strickland allowed the law to take effect without his signature.

While the law has been on the books for a decade, it is rarely used.

The Franklin County Sherriff’s office found no instances in which the 2007 law had been cited, according to spokesman Marc Gofstein.

“We have not had any complaints or reasons to apply this law. We have gone back as far as we have records for, and nothing has been found,” he said.

The law requires all "sexually oriented businesses" to close between midnight and 6 a.m. Although clubs that serve liquor are allowed to be open after midnight, adult entertainment must stop. That includes adult book and video stores, theaters, sexual-device shops and "sexual encounter" centers.

The law approved by state lawmakers toned down a provision sought by the citizen's group that would have created a six-foot “no touch” zone around a nude or partially clad dancer. Fearing that was unconstitutional, legislators substituted a provision prohibiting patrons from touching a nude or semi-nude dancer, or their clothing, in a club, anywhere on the premises or the parking lot. This excludes members of the dancer's immediate family.

Some "touches" face more serious penalties. Touching a dancer's genitals, buttocks or the "female breast below a point immediately above the top of the areola" is a first-degree misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. A second offense is a fourth-degree misdemeanor, punishable by up to 30 days in jail and a $250 fine.

The Ohio Highway Patrol Investigative Unit, which works with liquor agents and local law enforcement, provided information in response to a Dispatch request showing that section of law was cited in 141 criminal cases from 2010 through this year. However, that section of the law includes other provisions, making it difficult to tell if specific 2007 provisions are involved in the 141 cases. The patrol records include only cases where the investigative unit was involved.

Sgt. William Bragg of the Toledo Police Department said his agency has used the law on occasion, particularly in forcing closure of Scores, a problem-plagued downtown club with semi-clad dancers. However, the club soon reopened as the Hen House, an all-nude club that doesn’t serve alcohol.

Enforcement of the strip club law has taken a back seat to other priorities, primarily drugs, Bragg said.

“You’ve got to go after the stuff that’s killing people,” he said, “and not something that bothers somebody because a woman is dancing nude.”

Unlike the statewide smoking ban, also approved by voters. there are no statewide records of enforcement of the Community Defense Act. If enforcement occurs, and spot checks by the Dispatch showed that is rare, they involve local law enforcement.

A spokesman for Citizens for Community Values expressed disappointment at the limited impact of the law.

“It’s been used very little,” he said, “usually in conjunction with other charges, such as drugs.” He said most jurisdictions are ignoring the law, partially because of other priorities.

Sandy Theis, a former journalist and now a consultant who represented the club owners a decade ago, said, “The strip club law changed nothing. High-end clubs like Sirens in Columbus still follow the law and still feature lots of talented young women who don't have to worry about the wage gap.”

The club owner’s organization created to fight or repeal the law was dissolved.

The effort to put an issue on the ballot as a referendum to repeal the law was doomed by a stunning number of invalid signatures and fraud allegations. Less than one-third of the signatures on the repeal petition, many of which were gathered in bars, were found to be valid names of registered voters.

Thousands of signatures were thrown out, many because the person who allegedly signed the form was deceased, including a judge in one case.

drowland@dispatch.com

@ohioaj