Masters of Pain

A Florida producer has been charged by a federal grand jury in Billings, Montana, with distributing obscene DVDs through the mail, Acting Assistant Attorney General William Mercer has announced.

In a sealed indictment returned by the grand jury on Aug. 20, 2008, and unsealed today in federal court in Billings, Miami resident Barry Goldman doing business using the names Torture Portal, Masters of Pain and Bacchus Studios, was charged with three counts of using the mails to deliver DVDs containing obscene films to an address in Billings and one count that seeks forfeiture of certain assets of the defendant.

The specific films named in the indictment are Torture of Porn Star Girl , Pregnant and Willing and Defiant Crista Submits .

If convicted, Goldman faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000 on each of the three counts charged in the indictment.

Barry Goldman, who operates Torture Portal, Masters of Pain and Bacchus Studios, has been charged by a federal grand jury in Newark, N.J. with distributing obscene DVDs through the mail.

Goldman was charged with eight counts of sending DVDs containing allegedly obscene films from Jersey City to addresses in Montana and Virginia.

The indictments for 18 U.S.C. § 1461 and § 1467 include the films Torture of a Porn Store Girl , Defiant Crista Submits and Pregnant and Willing . The videos all were mailed in 2006 and 2007.

The Justice Department is seeking forfeitures of all copies of the movies, as well as proceeds from the sale of the movies.

Regulators also are seeking the forfeitures of domain names MastersOfPain.com and TorturePortal.com, as well as an email address, SirBNY@aol.com.

Bonnie Hannon, the Justice Department's lead attorney in the case works for the agency's Criminal Division's Obscenity Prosecution Task Force. Investigation of the case was conducted by the FBI's Adult Obscenity Squad based at the Washington field office.

The obscenity case, originally filed in Montana, was changed to New Jersey, according to an XBIZ source. But in the midst of the appeal, the government dismissed the case, claiming it is not their policy to file obscenity charges in the place of receipt in the absence of other contacts by the defendant with the place of prosecution.

If convicted, Goldman faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000 on each of the eight counts charged in the indictment.

Update: Painful Court Appearance

21st August See article from business.avn.com

Pornographer Barry Goldman's obscenity case has been put on a fast track, with a trial date set for Oct. 27

The nutters of Morality in Media are gearing up for its annual White Ribbon Against Pornography (WRAP) Week.

WRAP is a Religious Right group's efforts to publicize what it sees as the harms of pornography. Led by the Morality in Media (MIM), the movement hopes to escalate enforcement of obscenity laws and put behind bars adult entertainment operators like Goldman, who faces a federal jury over an eight-count indictment on obscenity charges.

The group is distributing WRAP ribbons through Sunday and is promoting letter-writing campaigns to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.

MIM President Robert Peters said Monday that there is a breakdown over enforcement of hardcore movies, and that he hopes that more adult entertainment operators leave the business altogether.

While enforcement of obscenity laws is not the whole answer to the pornography problem, vigorous enforcement will put many hardcore pornographers out of business and encourage others to get or stay out, Peters said. It will also send the message that pornography is a moral and social evil. Youth especially need to hear this message.

Peters blamed a fueled-up proliferation of adult material on the Internet for much of today's societal ills: It is clear that the explosion of hardcore pornography on the Internet and elsewhere is fueling this moral crisis. The Supreme Court has held that obscenity laws can be enforced against 'hardcore pornography,' and these days most commercially distributed pornography is 'hardcore.'

Meanwhile, Barry Goldman faces trial tomorrow at U.S. District Court in Newark, N.J., over his efforts selling DVDs through TorturePortal.com.