Russell Tyler, who together with John Wilkins, ran an illegal mail order DVD operation out of Tyler’s licensed XTC sex shop, plead guilty to five counts of criminal conversion, more commonly known as money laundering, in July.
Tyler’s partner, Wilkins, who was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the business plead guilty to nine offenses of possessing obscene material for the purposes of publication or gain, three counts of possessing illegal video recordings and five money laundering charges.
Both men were given jail terms of 21 months.
At a recent hearing to determine financial penalties for Tyler, prosecutor John Price told the court that Tyler was the primary beneficiary of the operation, which prompted the judge to order the man to sell several homes he owns in the area to meet an Aug. 9 deadline for payment.
Both men came to the attention of authorities after a December 2004 police raid. During the raid, officers uncovered thousands of videos and DVDs as well as an operation for copying, packaging and distributing the films, Price told the Reading Crown Court.
According to Price, the British Board of Film Classification rated many of the films R18. By law, it is legal to sell such films in licensed sex shops, but distribution via mail is forbidden.
The BBFC's website describes R18 as “a special and legally restricted classification primarily for explicit works of consenting sex between adults.” R18-rated videos are legal in the United Kingdom — they don't violate British obscenity laws — but they can be sold only in specially licensed sex shops, and retailers who want to sell R18-rated videos anywhere in England, Wales or Scotland must obtain a sex shop license from a local authority.
According to Price, some of the more tame titles seized included “I Like It Fat” and “Rubber and Laytex.” Price went on to say that several of the films featured “unnatural activities between adults,” including coprophilia — the practice of using excrement for sexual gratification.
Chief Superintendent Ian Dyson, who heads the vice unit of Metropolitan Police, said the case against Tyler and Wilkins was long and complicated because it involved both the sale of legal material through illegal means as well as the distribution of categorically illegal content.
“On one level they were putting obscene material into the homes of people who find it offensive,” Dyson said. “On another level they were producing films that are often made whilst subjecting victims, or vulnerable people, to acts that are degrading and exploitative.”
