A local firefighter resigns under pressure and another is suspended after an encounter with a man taking pictures of adult bookstore customers.
The incident took place Dec. 3 outside the Pure Pleasure store on Fern Valley Road, WLKY NewsChannel 32's Andy Alcock reported Wednesday.
Justin Jones, 18, said he went to the bookstore to apply for a part-time job, a story confirmed by the store manager. But instead of getting a job at Pure Pleasure, Jones is now in pure agony after being suspended as a recruit for the Fairdale Fire Department, Alcock reported.
Ok, here's a summary of the article:
Jones and another firefighter drove their fire or rescue truck* to a porn shop so that Jones could apply for a part time job (boy would I hate to be a fireman in a town where I had to work at a porn shop part time to make ends meet). While at said porn shop, they have their picture taken by a convicted-sex-offender-turned-anti-porn-activist who subsequently posts it on the internet. The city fire department finds out about this picture and suspends Jones.
This is one bizarre story.
First, Jones deserves to be fired. You don't drive your employers vehicle or wear your employer's uniform to a porn shop. That's just common sense. Going to a porn shop isn't that big of a deal, but driving your fire truck there while wearing your fire uniform? That's just stupidity. If Jones had been suspended because he had visited the porn shop in civilian clothes on his own time, I would have a problem with it. Porn isn't illegal. If a consenting adult likes to look at other consenting adults in various stages of undress and copulation, that's their business. But since Mr. Jones was dumb enough to visit the porn shop while representing his fire department, he deserves to be fired.
I would also submit that there's nothing wrong with the man sitting outside of the porn shop taking pictures. As long as he's not trespassing or harassing customers its his right to take those pictures, if that's how he wants to spend his time.
You can see the website being discussed in the article by clicking here. The group is called War Line, the "war" standing for War Against Rape. Its a noble cause, though something seems not-quite-right when you have convicted sex offenders trying to photograph people buying porn.
Local man mounts one-man battle with adult bookstore
Convicted Felon Films Shoppers Visiting Local Adult Store
Adult Bookstore Employee Hoses Down Camera-Toting Protester
Anti-Rape Group Posts Pictures Of Adult Bookstore Customers Online
*The story doesn't explicitly state what they drove, but it does quote the person taking the pictures as saying that "the men blasted their siren at him" and since most private vehicles aren't equipped with "sirens" I'm assuming it was a fire department vehicle. I'm also assuming that the men were wearing their uniforms as the fire department official quoted in the article makes a reference to the uniforms.