I call upon you, Mrs. Colleen...

[Barn Babe]

Originally Posted by bill_daniels

Well, we could also have a bake sale to raise bail money for the hostess.

Texas mom faces trial for selling sex toys

Wednesday, February 11, 2004 Posted: 12:26 PM EST (1726 GMT)

DALLAS, Texas (Reuters) -- Joanne Webb is a mother of three, a Baptist, a booster of the town of Burleson, Texas, and a former schoolteacher. She also faces trial for being a smut merchant.

Webb, 43, was arrested in November by two undercover police officers for selling sexual toys and charged with violating Texas obscenity laws. She could face up to a year in jail and a fine of $4,000 if convicted.

Webb is a representative for Passion Parties, a California company marketing potions, lotions and sexual toys sold at gatherings that mimic Tupperware parties.

Women over 18 meet in a private home for what the company calls a "girl's night out of giggles and fun," during which products designed to enhance sex lives are sold.

It was not a secret in Burleson, a small town near Fort Worth, that Webb sold vibrators, edible creams and racy lingerie.

But not everyone was happy about it.

According to reports in the local media, police said a few residents, who they declined to identify, lodged complaints. A few prominent citizens with strong Christian beliefs were angered by Webb and her activities and asked police to investigate, local media reported.

Two undercover police officers posed as a couple trying to spice up their love life and Webb sold the woman a vibrator. Webb instructed her on its use and explained how it could enhance lovemaking.

That's where she got into trouble.

Texas law allows for the sale of sexual toys as long as they are billed as novelties, BeAnn Sisemore, a Fort Worth attorney representing Webb, told the Houston Chronicle before a gag order was issued by the judge presiding over the case. But when a person markets sex toys in a direct manner that shows their actual role in sex, then that person is subject to obscenity charges, she told the newspaper.

Webb said she turned to Passion Parties to supplement her family's income when her husband's construction business went into a slump.

"For women to become self-confident in their sexuality ... that's what I'm in this for," Webb told the Dallas Morning News before the gag order was imposed.

She added that because of her arrest, she has found herself in a role she never imagined -- a public advocate for allowing women and couples to make personal decisions about their sex lives.

Sex, lives and passion parties
Police and Johnson County prosecutors declined to discuss the case, even before the gag order was issued.

Gloria Gillaspie, a pastor at Lighthouse Church in Burleson, said she has met and counseled some women who had talked to Webb about the products she sold.

"It was causing problems with their marriages," she said.

Gillaspie said Webb and her family were asked to leave two churches in town. She did not name the churches.

"They didn't want to comply with what was really Christian conduct and that is why they were asked to leave those churches," Gillaspie said.

But James Brown, a member of the local chamber of commerce and an acquaintance of Webb's, told Reuters: "Most of the people in town support Joanne."

Sisemore said she wants to use this case to overturn obscenity laws in Texas and other states.

"I will fight this all the way with her," Sisemore told the Houston Chronicle. "This is the first time I have felt that my government has overstepped its boundaries."

Sisemore has said she plans to file a federal lawsuit challenging Texas obscenity laws, which she said are so vague that they could be used to prosecute anyone who uses or sells condoms designed to provide stimulation for sexual pleasure.

Patricia Davis, a 59-year-old grandmother and president of Passion Parties, said: "We are very proud of Joanne Webb. She believes in the mission of the company and she is doing a really nice job of representing us."

Passion Parties has been doing booming business. The company racked up $20 million in sales in 2003 and saw 30 months of consecutive growth above the 50 percent mark.

The company has representatives in every state and is doing some of its best business in California, New York and the Bible Belt, a section of the United States where Christian beliefs and clergy are influential.

"Women are looking for ways to enhance their relationship, enhance their sensuality and they have nowhere to go," Davis said.

When women get together at a friend's home to peruse body lotions, shower gels and battery-operated devices the company calls "passion toys," Davis said many are able to overcome embarrassment and talk openly about sex.

"We are doing a lot to help women, to help couples and to help families," Davis said.

Well, that just sucks.

Originally Posted by BuckyThreadkiller

Do tell...

I have run this idea past just about all of my friends here and have gotten less than enthusiastic responses. I can't say all of them because there is one girl who I'm not sure I've suggested it to, but it would be a little uncomfortable having this party with just one other girl. I guess it wouldn't be a bad way for us to celebrate our birthday though! (Think she'd go for it?)

[LATB]

Originally Posted by Barn Babe

Well, that just sucks.

I have run this idea past just about all of my friends here and have gotten less than enthusiastic responses. I can't say all of them because there is one girl who I'm not sure I've suggested it to, but it would be a little uncomfortable having this party with just one other girl. I guess it wouldn't be a bad way for us to celebrate our birthday though! (Think she'd go for it?)

If you have a party w/ one other girl...video it and make big bank in the interwebs.

[DJ_Critterus]

Originally Posted by bill_daniels

You obviously have a heart for public service.

It's almost VD time and everybody has a heart on for some reason

[Mrs. Colleen]

Originally Posted by Barn Babe

Well, that just sucks.

I have run this idea past just about all of my friends here and have gotten less than enthusiastic responses. I can't say all of them because there is one girl who I'm not sure I've suggested it to, but it would be a little uncomfortable having this party with just one other girl. I guess it wouldn't be a bad way for us to celebrate our birthday though! (Think she'd go for it?)

That's a bummer. Post an add on craigslist personals....I want to host a Passion Party but my friends are lame.

You would get PLENTY of calls!

[LATB]

Originally Posted by Mrs. Colleen

That's a bummer. Post an add on craigslist personals....I want to host a Passion Party but my friends are lame.

You would get PLENTY of calls!

[Barn Babe]

Originally Posted by Mrs. Colleen

That's a bummer. Post an add on craigslist personals....I want to host a Passion Party but my friends are lame.

You would get PLENTY of calls!

Thanks, but I think I'll just stick with ordering online.

[DJ_Critterus]

Originally Posted by Mrs. Colleen

That's a bummer. Post an add on craigslist personals....I want to host a Passion Party but my friends are lame.

You would get PLENTY of calls!

Probably will end up getting replies from a bunch a gay dudes, dudes dressed like retired lesbians, lesbians, retired lesbians, joebuck, convicts, Bawney Fwank, and the city council.

[khblair]

Originally Posted by Barn Babe

Well, that just sucks.

I have run this idea past just about all of my friends here and have gotten less than enthusiastic responses. I can't say all of them because there is one girl who I'm not sure I've suggested it to, but it would be a little uncomfortable having this party with just one other girl. I guess it wouldn't be a bad way for us to celebrate our birthday though! (Think she'd go for it?)

Originally Posted by Mrs. Colleen

That's a bummer. Post an add on craigslist personals....I want to host a Passion Party but my friends are lame.

You would get PLENTY of calls!

i would come if i was in your area

[Sea Six]

Originally Posted by DJ_Critterus

It's almost VD time and everybody has a heart on for some reason

There was a girl in my Hash group with the name HeartOn.

[DJ_Critterus]

Originally Posted by khblair

i would come if i was in your area

Kinky....

[Sea Six]

Originally Posted by khblair

i would come if i was in your area

I love it when you talk dirty.

[DJ_Critterus]

Originally Posted by prseasix

There was a girl in my Hash group with the name HeartOn.

We've seen many variations of the name I think the best hash name for a slim that I've seen so far is "Queen LaQueefa."

Where in NW FL are you? I might go back to JAX to visit my family in a few months if I get the chance and will grace the Jax H3 with my presence if I do.

[Mrs. Colleen]

Originally Posted by khblair

i would come if i was in your area

You might want to rephrase that...then again...maybe not.

[MEANZ06]

Originally Posted by khblair

i would come if i was in your area

[Sea Six]

Originally Posted by DJ_Critterus

We've seen many variations of the name I think the best hash name for a slim that I've seen so far is "Queen LaQueefa."

Where in NW FL are you? I might go back to JAX to visit my family in a few months if I get the chance and will grace the Jax H3 with my presence if I do.

pm sent.

[Barn Babe]

Originally Posted by khblair

i would come if i was in your area

Will you be at the Barn Raising?

[khblair]

Originally Posted by Mrs. Colleen

You might want to rephrase that...then again...maybe not.

i think its too late now. oh well

Originally Posted by Barn Babe

Will you be at the Barn Raising?

no, i cant make it this year

[DJ_Critterus]

Originally Posted by khblair

i think its too late now. oh well


no, i cant make it this year

Well, thanks for trying to come... or however you reacted

[Datawiz]

Originally Posted by DJ_Critterus

Well, thanks for trying to come... or however you reacted

Says DJ Clitoris

[MEANZ06]

Originally Posted by DJ_Critterus

Well, thanks for trying to come... or however you reacted

With that arsenal Im pretty sure she did...

Edit: wrong slim lol