UPDATE 1:30 PM EDT July 12, 2018: All charges against Daniels have been dismissed.
I am pleased to report that the charges against my client @stormydaniels have been dismissed in their entirety (below motion was just granted). I want to thank Joe Gibson & his colleagues at the prosecutors ofc for their professionalism starting with our first call early this am. pic.twitter.com/xHPSWsyqM2
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) July 12, 2018
Under the state law, any person who regularly appears nude or seminude is not allowed to touch a patron. Daniels, a special guest and not a regular performer, was technically exempt. Without any evidence to the contrary, the state was unable to press charges. Read the full motion in the tweet above.
Stormy Daniels, the pornographic actress suing President Trump, has been arrested at a strip club in Ohio for violating a rarely-enforced state law. Her attorney, Michael Avenatti, alleges that the arrest was a politically motivated setup.
He tweeted,
Just rcvd word that my client @StormyDaniels was arrested in Columbus Ohio whole performing the same act she has performed across the nation at nearly a hundred strip clubs. This was a setup & politically motivated. It reeks of desperation. We will fight all bogus charges. #Basta
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) July 12, 2018
She was arrested for allegedly allowing a customer to touch her while on stage in a non sexual manner! Are you kidding me? They are devoting law enforcement resources to sting operations for this? There has to be higher priorities!!! #SetUp #Basta
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) July 12, 2018
We expect her to be released on bail shortly. We also expect that she will be charged with a misdemeanor for allowing “touching.” We will vehemently contest all charges. #Basta
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) July 12, 2018
Daniels, aka Stephanie Clifford, was performing a popular routine at the Sirens strip club in Columbus, Ohio before her arrest. As part of her act, Daniels allows patrons to touch her in a “non-sexual way.”
According to WSYX-TV in Columbus, Daniels was “semi-nude” and allegedly allowed several patrons to touch her body. She also performed the same act with several police officers who approached the stage. Daniels allegedly pressed one officer’s head between her breasts before her arrest.
Ohio’s 2007 Community Defense Act “prohibits anyone who is not a family member from touching a nude or semi-nude dancer.”
The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office told The Columbus Dispatch that they had not yet enforced this law since it passed a decade ago. “We have gone back as far as we have records for, and nothing has been found,” Marc Gofstein of the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office told the Dispatch. The Community Defense Act also restricts the hours of operation for adult-themed retail stores and bars.
According to the Chicago Tribune, Daniels was released on a $6,000 bond shortly before 6:00 AM on Thursday, July 12. Avenatti has said his client will issue a plea of “not guilty” later today.