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2 Panhandle men charged in multimillion-dollar Web porn ring

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published June 26, 2006

PENSACOLA - Two northwest Florida men face racketeering charges after a law enforcement sting on a multimillion-dollar Internet pornography business.

Clinton Raymond McCowen, 45, of Navarre and Kevin Patrick Stevens, 36, of Pensacola were arrested Friday on charges of racketeering, conducting a criminal enterprise by engaging in prostitution and the manufacture and sale of obscene material, authorities said.

Efforts by the Associated Press to contact the men Sunday were unsuccessful. Information on their legal representation was not available. McCowen's phone number is unlisted. A message left for an R. Stevens in Pensacola was not returned.

Escambia County Sheriff Ron McNesby and State Attorney Bill Eddins said McCowen and Stevens were the main operators of a Web site that sold video clips of northwest Florida men and women engaged in group sex. The site had about 5,000 registered subscribers who paid $30 a month for access to the videos.

According to an arrest affidavit, McCowen and his associates recruited and paid men and women up to $1,000 to appear in the videos. An undercover officer was told the group had been filming in the area for about five years, the report said.

Authorities began the investigation several months ago after receiving complaints about advertising of the films and recruiting models and actors from the area.

More arrests were expected, authorities said.

[Last modified June 26, 2006, 05:58:08]