Enferno Gentleman's Club owner arrested after business is searched

Dec 25, 2010, 10:22 AM

BUCYRUS -- Shortly after midnight Saturday, agents and officers from the Ohio Investigative Unit, Ohio Department of Taxation, Crawford County Sheriff's Office and Metrich Drug Task Force descended on Enferno Gentlemen's Club, west of Bucyrus at 934 Lincoln Highway.

Business owner Charles Durham, 60, Bucyrus, was charged with 18 criminal violations, including furnishing intoxicating liquor, illegally operating a sexually oriented business and illegal sales of alcohol.

The charges against Durham are first-degree misdemeanors.

"Most of the charges are because of the alcohol violations. He does not have a liquor license and Holmes Township, where the business is located, is a dry county," said Crawford County Sheriff Ron Shawber.

Durham is being held at the Crawford County Justice Center. He also was served a summons from the Ohio Department of Taxation citing him with several violations of Ohio tax law.

Three women who work at the business were arrested on charges of illegal sexually oriented activity in a sexually oriented business.

mansfieldnewsjournal.com

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Dudester15 years ago

How do the alternative newspapers in Ohio feel about the anti sex mood in Ohio ?

samsung115 years ago

Fantasyland West in Bucyrus is an Ohio club in the top 100 so I hope LE does not carry over to them.

The strip clubs in Columbus/Dayton run a magazine called Ohio Night Vision. It is filled with strip club ads/promotions (some of which are good for free admission). Also there is a two page article written by the editor. His stance is that strip clubs are adult entertainment and the guys who come in expecting sexual services from the strippers are ruining it for everyone else. Not sure if he is really this gay (he does have a wife) or if he is just giving lip service to LE.

Dudester15 years ago

Recently re-watching How the West was Won, I saw religious fundamentalists coming to Ohio. Is that how it is ? A bunch of Zebediah's and Eve's ?

DoctorDarby15 years ago

Dudester, you are not far from the truth with that observation. In spite of having urban centers like Cleveland, Ohio is really quite a provincial state filled with "salt of the earth" types out of touch with reality. The zealots in Cincinnati are more akin to Kentucky Bible thumpers than urban sophisticates and they took advantage of Ohio's conservative tendencies to push the gay marriage ban and the idiodic law regulating adult businesses. Ironically, they were out to shut down the superficial parts of strip clubs, not the really naughty bits. To them, the lap dance was scandelous enough to warrent regulation; never mind the extras that most Ohioans don't even know exist. Editors of strip club guides like Night Vision and the Go Go (eastern Ohio and western Pa) promote the image of clubs that the owners give them; it would be silly and counterproductive to go below the surface. What happened in Ohio could happen anywhere (as evidenced by Detroit's crackdown) in spite of the economic benefits that adult businesses can bring to states and localities.

georgmicrodong15 years ago

DoctorDarby: There is no economic benefit that is more important than political power. Remember that, and all the regulation on private lives makes sense, in a perverted sort of way.

samsung115 years ago

I just read on SCL that because of this LE, Fantasyland West (one of the few ohio clubs on the top 100) is now a pasties club to comply with state law

gk15 years ago

It takes money to enforce tht prud strp club law in Ohio. But Ohio is in a severe budget crisis like most other states. I'm wondering how much priority the Governor and legislature will put on funding this enforcement nonsense when they will have to justify not funding some other priorities? While I don't expect a big public debate about it, we'll have a clue if things ease up a bit.

Prim015 years ago

We just have too many people in Ohio that like to tell everyone else how to live their lives. WIth that, and taxes so high, is it any wonder we had so many people move out of state since the last census?!

rl2714 years ago

Fantasyland is pastie at the moment, because the same people who own Enferno, own Fantasyland. As for how much priority the legislature will put in funding this, think about this, Kasich, who used to be a guest commentator on Fox news, is now our governor. He is also a religious nutjob.

samsung114 years ago

Just also found out via eroticmp.com that the two nearby asian massage parlors were closed down in Springfield about 40 minutes away from columbus. Columbus does not have any AMPs as it is.