FanPost

12/16/10 OTTOTD: Have you no shame?

A Powell father and one-time "Big Brother" reality show contestant whose name wound up on a mailing list for gay sex publications is trying this week to convince a jury to punish the publisher because his then-12-year-old daughter got an unwanted eyeful sent to his home.

Jurors in U.S. District Judge Tom Varlan's courtroom likely will begin deliberations today in a civil lawsuit filed by Kent Blackwelder against Specialty Publications Inc., a California-based firm that publishes sexually explicit material including the gay magazine "Freshmen."

Blackwelder was cast in the second season of "Big Brother" in 2001. The show forces contestants from disparate backgrounds to share a house. Blackwelder was the token conservative. He was voted out midway through the season.

At issue in his lawsuit is the five seconds his daughter perused a mailer featuring photographs of naked men in erotic poses in May 2007 and its impact. He also accuses the publisher of violating regulations on how sexually explicit material should be packaged.

Blackwelder's attorney, David Burkhalter II, insists Blackwelder did not solicit the mailer, which promised a free copy of the "Titan Men's Fresh Farm" DVD with a subscription to "Freshmen" magazine, and has no idea how his name and address wound up on the mailing list.

"Mr. Blackwelder didn't ask for this advertisement," Burkhalter told jurors Tuesday. "He didn't solicit this. He's not gay - not that there's anything wrong with that."

But the publisher's attorney, Richard Hollow, said it was no mystery how Blackwelder's name and address wound up on the mailing list.

"In 2005, Kent Blackwelder entered an online contest sponsored by the magazine known as 'The Out Traveler,'" Hollow said. "This is a gay publication."

The contest, which the married Blackwelder denies entering, offered up an all-expenses paid trip for two to a "gay-friendly" destination.

Two years later, Madison Blackwelder plucked from a basket on the kitchen counter a plain white envelope addressed to her father and promising on its cover a "free new DVD offer."

She told jurors Tuesday she thought it might be a Disney movie offer so she opened the envelope.

This post was written by a member of the DRaysBay community and does not necessarily express the views or opinions of DRaysBay staff.

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