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Virginia Patron Faces Charges for Defacing MagazineOfficials at the Williamsburg (Va.) Regional Library are weighing their options following the revelation that a 77-year-old patron allegedly confiscated the front of the November 11 issue of the Advocate at the Scotland Avenue branch because he objected to the cover image. A gay-interest news magazine, the Advocate featured on that issue’s cover a photo of two bare-chested male Cirque du Soleil performers, one black and one white, on the verge of kissing each other. “I’m old-fashioned and have grandchildren, and this magazine was eye-level,” John Callaghan said in the November 20 Newport News Daily Press.Explaining that the library began subscribing to the magazine in 2001 at the request of area residents, Adult Services Director Barry Trottman told the Daily Press, “Any time something is damaged by someone, it’s a disappointment simply because it reduces the access of everyone in the community to whatever that item was.” Although parts of other periodicals have been ripped out on separate occasions, WRL officials have never before known the identity of the perpetrator. Damaging a library magazine in Virginia is a Class I misdemeanor that can carry up to 12 months in prison, up to $2,500 in fines, or both upon conviction. When advised by a Daily Press reporter of the penalties, Callaghan replied, “They don’t have witnesses that I did this,” and that anyway, “I’m not sure I did it.” WRL Director John Moorman was consulting with trustees regarding whether to press criminal charges or take another action such as revoking Callaghan’s library card. Posted November 24, 2003. |
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