Court must rule on sex toy row
Catholic groups launch legal bid to shut down Love Shop for selling "pornographic" items too near school
A PARIS court has to decide today whether sex toys are erotic or pornographic after religious groups challenged the opening of a Love Shop within 200 metres of a school.
The law on the protection of children forbids the setting up of a business within 200 metres of a school if its activity involves the sale or display of "pornographic" objects - but does not define what is covered.
Catholic religious groups are protesting against the 1969 - Curiosités Désirables shop at 69 Rue Saint-Martin which is 90m from the Saint-Merrie primary and secondary school.
Their lawyer said works which concerned only physiological acts - without any reference to love or sentiment - had been ruled pornographic in a previous case. He said that the shop sold items which simulated sexual acts "so I don't see how these cannot be pornographic".
Shop manager Nicolas Busnel faces up to two years' jail and a €30,000 fine if found guilty.
His lawyer said that the objects for sale in the shop were on free sale elsewhere in France: "The 3 Suisses catalogue has whole pages given over to them."
He added: "The use of sex toys themselves has nothing to do with depravation."
