Albuquerque’s Problem with Sex and Crime

A revealing look at how sexually oriented material may be related to Albuquerque’s high rate of sexually oriented crime.

The 1990 campaign mentioned in this article was unsuccessful in seeing laws against obscenity and child pornography passed in New Mexico’s legislature. However, what I remember most vividly about the many letters received from pornography victims is the extreme depression and anguish I felt when I read the details provided by participants in the campaign. Pornography may not be a “crime,” but it is certainly criminal in what it does do its users and families, as you will see in this article from 1993.

In 1990 KLYT radio joined the local chapter of the American Family Association and the former director of President Reagan’s task force on pornography, Alan Sears, in an effort to help pass obscenity and child pornography legislation. Letters were solicited from men and women about their experiences with pornography and obscenity. In less than three weeks thirty-one letters were received from New Mexicans.

Almost universal in these often long and detailed letters were claims that pornography, obscenity, and sexually oriented businesses directly contributed to a variety of problems from martial break-ups, to sex crimes and worse. Interestingly, the claims were made not only by victims, but by the perpetrators who have since stopped using sexually oriented materials.

The thirty-one letters were surveyed for the types of acts and crimes committed. The letters accounted for an inordinate number of alarming acts – 690 to be exact:

• 16 cases of child molestation
• 246 cases of extra-martial affairs
• 15 cases of rape
• 12 cases of sexual abuse
• 41 cases of sexual intercourse before marriage
• 3 cases of bestiality (sex with animals)
• 52 cases of pornography introduced to children
• 43 victims of sexual crime
• 262 people involved with pornography, obscenity, child pornography, or the porn industry directly

Alarming? Left uncounted in the crude survey of the letters were the number of broken marriages attributed directly to pornographic influences and the number of personal deviant acts.

Does pornography have an influence on sexual behaviors, and more importantly, sex crimes? That’s what we wanted to find out in 1991, so Cutting Edge took a close look at the Albuquerque Police Department’s (APD) crime statistics, specifically, those tracking rape, prostitution, and “other” sexual offenses. The conclusion was that sexually oriented businesses do have an influence on sexually oriented crime.

The two best illustrations of this were proximity and travel, demonstrated by the opening of a new topless club in the Duke City. From the July 1991 Cutting Edge:

”In 1989 there were no soft porn businesses on Eubank. In 1990 TD’s Showclub arrived on the scene…Police Beat 421, covering an area between Eubank and Wyoming, and Candelaria and I-40 has the highest rate (rise in sex crime for the command area) – 350% of “other” sexual offenses. During 1989 that same beat had an average rate of “other” offenses for the entire command area…on the other side of Beat 421 is another soft porn establishment, Chapter II’s.”

Now, over a year and a half later another look at Albuquerque’s sex crime rate is warranted. The situation has not improved. Despite an attempt or two by the City Council at possible rezoning for sexually oriented businesses, and continued crackdowns on prostitution, Albuquerque’s rate of sex crime has risen dramatically in just two years. How dramatically?

In every category sex crimes have risen. According to the APD Quarterly Crime Statistics Report, there were 806 sex crimes in 1990. The first three quarters of 1992 saw that number rise to 946 (APD statistics were night available for the last quarter at press time). Based upon the first three quarters of 1992 the year-end total may be projected over 1,200. That’s a 33 percent rise in two years.

Half of sex crimes represent what APD calls, “Rape by Force,” “Rape Attempts,” and “Other Sexual Offenses.” In 1990 rape and other sexual offenses numbered 385 reported offenses. In 1992 that number rose to a projected 676 – a 43 percent rise in such crimes.

It may be said that with prostitution both parties are willing participants. But this is not the case with rape and molestation.

As mentioned earlier, travel seems to be a factor when tallying the location of sexually oriented crimes with the location of sexually oriented businesses. APD’s command sector 3 (everything south of I-40 and east of I-25) accounts for 88 percent of all sexually oriented crime in the city. While an occasional topless club or adult bookstore may be found outside this area, the vast majority of porn shops are located in this trouble spot.

It might be argued that this area is also high in other crimes – gangs, drugs, homicide, etc. But the influences in the area should not be overlooked. It only takes common sense to see that where are a high volume of influences for any kind of criminal activity, instances of criminal acts must also be high in the same area.

Do prostitutes parlor themselves on Academy? Why not solicit on Montgomery, or Juan Tabo north of Lomas? Simply because of John is easier to find near a porn shop. As one former prostitute testified above, porn affected her business.

What goes on in porn shops is enough to make any customer seek out a hooker. Some just find their satisfaction in the booths. Yet, lie all obsessions or addictions, sexual obsessions are rarely contained to a booth or hotel room as evidenced by the alarming rise in sex crimes in areas where sexually oriented businesses operate.

Example: Police Beats 323, 324, and 325 running along Central between Washington and Louisiana have the most porn shops for the strip. Those beats also have 38 percent of all sexually oriented crime for everything south of I-40 and east of I-25. Coincidence? In 1991 that same area had only 29 percent.

The 1985 Attorney General’s Commission on Pornography studied the issue of pornography arousing sexual behaviors. The Commission split on the harmfulness of nonviolent pornography in its verdict. There was, however, more unity regarding degrading and violent materials. Under the categories of Social Science Evidence, and Moral, Ethical, and Cultural, harm was found in all sub tiers – including negative effects on aggressive behaviors in males. To date, almost all of the Commission’s recommendations for reducing sex crime have been put into effect in all 50 states with one notable exception – New Mexico.

While the state and city have obscenity codes on the books, they remain un-enforced. Neither conform to the Supreme Court’s Miller definition of obscenity; thus, state prosecutors have found New Mexico’s law unenforceable. Worse yet, while it is a crime in New Mexico to produce child pornography, it is not a crime to possess it.

This evaluation of APD crime stats, while crude, may hold the key to understanding what facilitates sex crimes in certain areas. According to the 1985 Commission’s report, the 1970 Porn Commission found that the “reported rise in adult sex crimes was not greater than the rise for other offenses between 1960 and 1969 (nationally), despite the heightened availability of sexually oriented materials.” However, the 1970 Commission only used Playboy distribution and mail order offenses as a yardstick. Sexually oriented business locations and crimes were not factored.

How do police view the possible relationship between sex crime and sexually oriented businesses? Sergeant Michele Campbell, in charge of APD’s unit investigating sex crimes says, “APD does not ask offenders if they have used sexually oriented materials while investigating a crime; unless the material was directly involved, such as a device used on a victim.”

APD holds no position on the possible influence sexually oriented businesses may have on sex crime, though admittedly, a regular question on a report as a part of every sex crime investigation could help determine the potential role adult businesses may play. It could also give lawmakers the knowledge they need to bring down the rte of sexually oriented crimes. Until then we can only watch as the sex crime rate rises, and listen to the testimonies of victims sure that pornography played a key role in their abuse.