Bill would ban model nudity in escort ads

Tuesday, March 23, 1999 | 10:09 a.m.

Assemblyman John Lee, D-Las Vegas, says he regularly must pick up the free magazines that blow from the racks near his plumbing business.

Too often, he said, children pull out copies of the magazines that often show female models in various states of undress.

"Children have an opportunity to pick up this smut," Lee said, adding that his AB282 would require covering the models' breasts.

Current Nevada obscenity laws already require that material available in places accessible to children cover pubic areas of male and female models. But uncovered female breasts aren't considered obscene.

A hearing on Lee's bill is set for Wednesday in the Assembly Judiciary Committee, and Lee says he'll have copies of the escort magazines available at the session.

"This material can consume your life," he said. "It is very addictive. It teaches wrong values about women, that they are nothing more than sex objects."

Two years ago Lee sponsored a bill requiring video shops to stop renting to children Japanese animation movies that featured nude cartoon characters. The tapes now must be rented only to adults.

"This is a continuation of that effort," he said. "This kind of stuff causes moral decay. A mind engrossed in sex is good for nothing more."