A southern Indiana prosecutor says he won’t pursue charges against stores that offer R-rated films in movie rental kiosks accessible by minors.Vanderburgh County Prosecutor Stan Levco (pictured) announced his decision Friday, just days after he warned area stores that he was considering action.
Levco says he reviewed Indiana law and decided a trial would likely end in the stores’ favor. He says the kiosks have enough safeguards to protect children under 17 from accessing adult films.
Indiana law says providing matter harmful to minors is a felony.
A Union City, Ind., McDonald’s agreed to remove R-rated movies in 2007 after city officials threatened to press a public nuisance violation. Officials in nearby Winchester raised the issue with a Walmart store a year later.
The Vanderburgh County, Indiana, County Prosecutor is trying to save the children by banning anything above a "G" rating from Redbox, and other inexpensive, automated video rental systems—going so far as to backhandedly threaten a grocery store with a Class D felony.
But, as Consumerist points out, the real "brains" behind this effort isn't parents, or even a particularly zealous religious group. It's video rental stores, which stand to profit if $1-per-DVD-per-day Redbox can't dispense anything other than cartoons.
"I'm not on a crusade," said Paul Black, an Evansville attorney who says he suggested the inquiry to Levco's office on behalf of a client who operates several video store locations. "We're just looking for a level playing field here."
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