Editing Crothersville, Indiana (section)

==Adult store controversy==
Lion's Den, a store selling adult sexual products and [[pornography]], opened in Crothersville near the Interstate 65 exit in 2005.<ref>{{cite web|title=Lions Den|url=http://www.merchantcircle.com/lions-den1-crothersville-in|website=merchantcircle.com|accessdate=December 31, 2015}}</ref> From the day the store opened, Christian protestors photographed persons entering the store parking lot day and night from a surveillance structure on frontage property.<ref>{{cite web|title=Both sides claim free speech rights in battle over Indiana sex shop|url=http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080729/NEWS/807290387/-1/ARCHIVE|website=indystar.com|publisher=Gannett|accessdate=December 31, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Uniontown, Indiana Lions Den (Protestor taking pics)|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nj-VhdwUEMw| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/Nj-VhdwUEMw| archive-date=December 11, 2021 | url-status=live|website=youtube.com|publisher=hotWendyWilliamspres|accessdate=December 31, 2015}}{{cbignore}}</ref> According to a protest organizer, Pastor Jon Pearce of First Baptist Church of Crothersville, people in the community were motivated by rumors, never substantiated, that Lion's Den was "gonna have videos and stuff on bestiality and just all kinds of terrible things about chasing down young girls and raping them."<ref>{{cite web|title=Protest Outside a Porn Shop Lasts Five Years|url=http://www.covenanteyes.com/2010/08/12/protest-outside-a-porn-shop-lasts-five-years/|website=covenanteyes.com|accessdate=December 31, 2015}}</ref>

The protestors, who called themselves the Uniontown Watchdogs, also wrote down license plates and notified trucking companies that their drivers were allegedly patronizing the store. Photographs of alleged patrons were posted to a web site. Reportedly, "a parole officer from another county ran the plate numbers recorded by the Watchdogs."<ref>{{cite web|title=Truckers' Pictures Taken When They Buy Porn|url=http://www.covenanteyes.com/2009/08/26/truckers-pictures-taken-when-they-buy-porn/|website=covenanteyes.com|accessdate=December 31, 2015}}</ref> The protestors placed signs at the store's parking lot entrance which read, "Warning! All license plates are recorded!" and "Over 2 million will see you on war-line.net."<ref>{{cite web|title=Mitch Goes To Nashville #8!|url=http://mitchoconnell.blogspot.com/2010/07/mitch-goes-to-nashville-8.html|website=mitchoconnell.blogspot.com|accessdate=December 31, 2015}}</ref> They sometimes yelled comments at persons who entered the property and offered free Bibles.<ref>{{cite web|title=IND. COURTS - "BOTH SIDES CLAIM FREE SPEECH RIGHTS IN BATTLE OVER SEX SHOP"|url=http://indianalawblog.com/archives/2008/07/ind_courts_both_1.html|website=indianalawblog.com|accessdate=December 31, 2015}}</ref>

The protests were not without controversy however. In addition to building a platform to look over a fence constructed by the business to maintain their practice of photographing people walking in and out of the store, several complaints were also issued over the shining of a floodlight in the faces of drivers passing by, in preparation to take a photograph if they entered the property, leading to several near misses with protesters and other autos.

On July 30, 2010, in response to a lawsuit filed by Jackson County, special Bartholomew Circuit Court judge Stephen R. Heimann, a Democrat,<ref>{{cite web|title=Indiana Primary Election, May 4, 2010|url=http://www.in.gov/apps/sos/primary/sos_primary10?page=office&countyID=-1&partyID=-1&officeID=11&districtID=-1&districtshortviewID=-1&candidate=|website=in.gov|publisher=State of Indiana|accessdate=December 31, 2015}}</ref> ruled that the store violated a county licensing ordinance and must be closed. He ruled that the county could constitutionally bar the business from operating at the location as part of its intent to protect the health, safety, and welfare of county residents, and that the ordinance was content neutral since it did not seek to ban adult businesses. Lion's Den violated the ordinance because it was operating within 1,000 feet of a residence. Jackson County commissioners adopted the ordinance three days before Lion's Den opened, after they discovered it was going to be an adult business.<ref>{{cite web|title=Judge Rules Uniontown Porn Store Must Close|url=http://crothersvilletimes.com/?p=1789|website=crothersvilletimes.com|accessdate=December 31, 2015}}</ref> The store closed within days after the ruling while Lion's Den appealed the case.<ref>{{cite web|title=Porn Store Closes But Court Appeal May Be Filed|url=http://crothersvilletimes.com/?p=1805|website=crothersvilletimes.com|accessdate=December 31, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author1=Charles Gazaway|title=Adult entertainment store closes after 5 year court fight|url=http://www.wave3.com/story/12966318/adult-entertainment-store-closes-after-5-year-court-fight|website=wave3.com|accessdate=December 31, 2015|date=August 11, 2010}}</ref> On June 7, 2011, the Court of Appeals of Indiana unanimously affirmed Judge Heimann's ruling.<ref>{{cite web|title=UNIONTOWN RETAIL #36, LLC, ) d/b/a THE LION‟S DEN #36, ) ) Appellant, ) )  vs. ) BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF ) JACKSON COUNTY; No. 36A01-1008-MI-434|url=http://www.ai.org/judiciary/opinions/pdf/06071101cld.pdf|website=ai.org|accessdate=December 31, 2015}}</ref> Lion's Den is an Ohio-based company with about 30 stores across the United States at the time of the Crothersville conflict.<ref>{{cite web|title=Lion's Den|url=http://www.lionsden.com|website=lionsden.com|accessdate=December 31, 2015}}</ref>

In 2008, Melvin Ray Owen, a spokesman and organizer for the anti-pornography protesters was arrested for sexual battery on a girl of 16.<ref>{{cite web|title=Uniontown Porn Protester Arrested For Sexual Battery|url=http://crothersvilletimes.com/?p=505|website=crothersvilletimes.com|accessdate=February 8, 2018|date=November 12, 2008}}</ref>  Reverend Roger Smith, who testified on behalf of Owen, told the court, that Owen was "touchy-feely. He hugs everybody in church. It is out of character for him be anything but someone who wants to do good.” Owen claimed that he was the victim of an aggressive girl who had been propositioning him: “I touched her breast, I did. I also blowed on her hair and punched her ribs. It wasn’t an accident and I’ll tell you why. I touched her to try to get her off my lap and she wouldn’t get off it."<ref>{{cite web|title=Porn Protester Gets 90 Days In Jail For Touching Teen|url=http://crothersvilletimes.com/?p=1139|website=crothersvilletimes.com|accessdate=February 8, 2018}}</ref> After changing his plea to guilty, Owen was sentenced to 90 days in jail and 90 days home incarceration.<ref>{{cite web|title=Porn Protester Changes Plea To Guilty|url=http://crothersvilletimes.com/?p=1071|website=crothersvilletimes.com|accessdate=February 8, 2018}}</ref>