The trials of local strippers busted earlier this year for various acts of alleged “inappropriate” conduct earlier this year ended with mixed results and anticlimactically, kind of like a trip to the champagne room.
Of the four trials scheduled for Tuesday one changed her plea to no contests, two were found guilty and one was acquitted by West Wendover Judge Reese Melville.
Melville was however lenient with the three guilty sentences slapping them each with the minimum $192.00 in total fines and with the agreement of both the prosecution and the defense waived the cost of the Public Defenders fees.
A dozen or so dancers at the Southern X-posure strip club were cited during February and March for violating various parts of West Wendover’s exotic dancing ordinance by West Wendover Police Officer Catherine Petro.
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At the time of the citations, strip club owner Scott bangerter called the action harassment
“This is plain and simple harassment,” said strip club owner Scott Bangerter Wednesday. “I have been in operation since 2001 and never once have one of the dancers received a citation for in appropriate behavior until this year. In 90 days they issued 14.”
West Wendover City Attorney that Bangerter could be correct at least to the fact that his dancers were never cited before for “inappropriate” acts while stripping or performing.
“I really can’t confirm the number of recently issued citations,” Coyle explained. “They only come to me when they are challenged.”
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Bangerter suggested that the citations came only after he made an official complaint to West Wendover Police Chief Ron Supp regarding the conduct of his patrol officers during a walk through of his club this January.
“They barged into the dressing room without even knocking,” He said. “We made a kind of stink about that and then the girls started getting tickets.
While Bangerter’s dancers may not have been cited before the club has had frequent run-ins with the city over a whole host of issues.
Since the citations were issued most of the dancers who originally pled not guilty since changed their pleas to either guilty or no contest. Four dancers, Ashley Nicole Box, Somphavanh Childs, Felicia Salazar and Casey Petersen however insisted on going to trial which took place Tuesday.
Public defender Andrew Mierins represented all four women and while losing is usually the outcome for the defense in misdemeanor trials, Mierins did score a win in the case of Somphavanh Childs. Cited for illegally touching another dancer Petro admitted during questioning that Childs was not the toucher but rather the “touchee”. Mienins immediately moved that the case be thrown out and prosecutor Tom Coyle agreed. Melville dismissed the case.
Mienins could also claim victories of sorts with the no contest plea and the two guilty verdicts. Instead of imposing the heaviest fines and court costs that could have run into the thousands of dollars, Melville without any objection from Coyle imposed the lightest possible penalty on each of the three, just $192.00. Melville even allowed for a payment plan of $50.00 a month until the fines were paid off.
click below to watch trials
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