Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery's heard the news that several California porn-production companies may be planning to come out to Arizona, partially due to Los Angeles' new law requiring porn actors to wear condoms.
Now, Montgomery's warning that bare-backing it on camera in Arizona may qualify as prostitution.
"Under Arizona law, anyone paid to appear in a pornographic movie may be guilty of the crime of prostitution, which carries mandatory jail time as well as the possibility of other penalties," Montgomery's office warns.
As you may know -- or pretend to not know -- several porno outlets have already been operating in Arizona for several years now, including the Scottsdale-based Backroom Casting Couch and FTV Girls.
County Attorney's Office spokesman Jerry Cobb tells New Times that Montgomery's office is well aware that some porno companies operate in Arizona, but claims they could be violating prostitution laws as well.
"There have been people doing all kinds of things are illegal, but not everyone's caught and prosecuted," Cobb says.
The County Attorney's Office adds that "Arizona law precludes the establishment of a 'pornography industry' to any degree such as that present in California."
No one in the county involved in porn has been prosecuted on prostitution charges since Montgomery took over, Cobb says, but they're sending out the warning.
Being a porn "actor" isn't the only prostitution-related charge Montgomery's warning people about:
"...[A]nyone involved in other aspects of producing
pornographic movies, including soliciting individuals to appear,
collecting a fee from the monies received by individuals solicited to
appear by virtue of an agent relationship, transporting individuals from
California to Arizona for the purpose of appearing in a pornographic
movie, and/or establishing a venue for the filming and/or production of
pornographic movies may be guilty of committing one or several felonies
in the state of Arizona."
Still, this porn-related prosecution hasn't actually happened under Montgomery's reign, but he's saying it could happen.
