Adult bookstore off I-65 in Kentucky closes after investigation into illegal activity
An adult bookstore along a busy Kentucky interstate has been permanently shut down after two deaths and more than 30 violations on the premises, the sheriff’s office said.
The Horse Cave Adult Book Store, which sits just off Interstate 65 in what was once an outlet mall, has closed after three years of reports of illegal activity, the Hart County Sheriff’s Department announced in a Facebook post Tuesday.
The sheriff’s office said the owners of the business, at 845 Flint Ridge Road in Horse Cave, agreed during a court hearing Aug. 31 to permanently close the operation. They also accepted “a deed restriction that prohibits the sale of explicit sexual activity and merchandise,” the sheriff’s office said.
Hart County’s judge executive and fiscal court had recently updated the county’s ordinance dealing with “sexually explicit businesses,” and at the request of the Hart County fiscal court, the county attorney had filed a civil suit against the operators of the adult bookstore, accusing them of “operating a house of abatement,” the sheriff’s office said.
There also were pending cases involving the business in district court, according to the sheriff’s office.
The sheriff’s office said that in 2019, they and members of the Greater Hardin County Drug Task Force “began conducting required checks into illegal activity” at the bookstore, after complaints of people “being intoxicated, persons causing disturbances at other local businesses, physical assaults, and the sale of volatile substances.”
“The Adult Book Store was cited for more than thirty violations of ‘permit required to operate a place of entertainment,’” the sheriff’s office said in the post. “Over the course of three years, numerous citations and arrests were made for indecent exposure, resulting from undercover officers entering the establishment and observing persons having sexual contact inside the book store during this time.”
The sheriff’s office said the book store also sold illegal “poppers,” which are intended to enhance sexual function and are “labeled as volatile substances.”
“A search warrant was obtained and all ‘popper’ substances along with other controlled substances were seized,” the sheriff’s office wrote.
Twice, people died after being found in the business’ “back room,” which was advertised as a “video arcade area” that customers paid a fee to enter. Inside were booths and “videos of assorted sexual acts.” The sheriff’s office said undercover deputies went to the bookstore and got “clarification” about the operation.
“These booths were utilized for sexual acts to occur with strangers in the adjacent booth,” the sheriff’s office said. “Couches and other paraphernalia were provided by the business to promote sexual acts on the premises.”
