Three agents with the state Alcoholic Beverage Control spent nearly eight hours Thursday testifying -- often in graphic detail -- at a hearing over a Little Rock strip club that faces 48 citations from the agency ranging from prostitution to employees drinking on the job.
Agency Director Doralee Chandler is expected to rule in the next few days on the case concerning the Paper Moon Gentleman's Club, according to Scott Hardin, spokesman for the state Department of Finance and Administration. The club is on Mabelvale Pike south of Asher Avenue in Little Rock.
"Director Chandler will review a recording of the hearing, including any evidence submitted today. Following this review, she will determine the appropriate penalty for these violations," Hardin said. "This could range from a fine or probationary period to a temporary suspension of the license. The maximum penalty is full license revocation."
Once the penalty is determined, the Paper Moon can either accept the decision or appeal it to the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board.
The club amassed the citations after the agents went undercover on seven occasions in September and October and came back with tales of prostitution propositions, simulated sexual acts and numerous incidents of physical contact between dancers and patrons.
Among the charges were:
• Several instances of allowing entertainers to solicit as prostitutes on the premises.
• Allowing drugs in the club.
• Entertainers exposing their genitals and breasts to patrons.
• Employees drinking alcoholic beverages on duty,
• Improper touching between dancers and patrons.
• Allowing dancers to simulate a sexual act.
• Selling alcoholic beverages to an intoxicated person.
While there are criminal laws for strip clubs in Arkansas, the industry is largely regulated by the alcohol agency. According to the rules, exotic dancers are not allowed to show their full breasts beyond the top of the areola and are prohibited from showing the cleft of the buttocks or the vulva. Most wear what is commonly known as the G-string, which covers the genital area.
Little Rock attorney John Walker, who represented Paper Moon at the hearing, challenged the agents and asked for detailed explanations of the actions they said they witnessed. Walker suggested that the agents were working on "assumptions" rather than facts.
Agent Aaron Longenecker testified that he saw a patron's hand "disappear between a performer's legs."
Walker faced forward in his chair, leaned against the table and put both hands between his legs.
"You can assume that I'm touching myself, but I promise you that I'm not," he said.
Longenecker as well as agents David Boyd and Jay Rider testified about multiple prostitution offers from the entertainers, ranging from $60 for basic service to a $1,200 threesome that included the club's "best champagne."
Walker pointed out that the dancers are independent contractors and one of them identified by the agents as "Nadia" had been fired by the club.
Paper Moon has been cited numerous times by the Alcoholic Beverage Control agency in the past for similar violations to those they are currently facing, Hardin said. The club was accused of allowing a patron to be touched in April 2018, and there were 10 citations for various violations in January 2016.
Little Rock police raided the club in 2011 resulting in charges of prostitution for four dancers and public indecency for two others.
Metro on 05/24/2019