Retailer Arrested For Sale Of ‘Harmful’ LP To Minor
By EDWARD MORRIS
NASHVILLE – The arrest of a Pineville, La record retailer for selling “harmful material” to a minor has raised the question of whether all stores in the state must now begin to monitor their record and tape sales. Jim Willey co-owner of the Deja Vu Sound Center. a $100.000-a-year retail operation was arrested March 12 for selling a 16-year-old boy a cassette album. “Blowfly’s Party.” The sale was allegedly in violation of a Louisiana law which prohibits providing “harmful material to minors .” “Blowfly’s Party” is manufactured on the Weird World label. a division of TK Productions in Hialeah, Fla. According to Willey’s brother. Chet. a partner in Deja Vu. the offending album carried no cautionary label. tie says he is concerned that if there is a conviction on the charges. store owners \viii be forced to monitor sales of such potentially controversial artists as Millie Jackson and Richard Pryor. Conviction under the Louisiana statute could result in a maximum sentence of a $2.000 fine and one year in jail. Willey. who was handcuffed at his store and jailed until bond was posted, says he has declined offers to plea-bargain for a lesser offense. Arraignn1ent is set for March 30. According to Willey. the album was sold to the boy last August. The arrest. he adds. stemmed from complaints made by the boy’s parents to the Rapides Parish sheriff’s department.