MANVEL, Texas- A Manvel couple has been arrested on obscenity charges after authorities say they found pictures from a swingers group on a laptop the wife had on loan from Alvin Community College.
Brazoria County District Attorney Jeri Yenne said the computer had more than 800 photos of people posing nude and engaging in sex acts.
The suspects could not be reached for comment Wednesday. They were arrested Tuesday and each was charged with four counts of promoting obscenity, a Class A misdemeanor. They remained in jail Wednesday in lieu of bonds totaling $40,000 each.
The couple is charged with promoting obscene material because there were more than six obscene objects, Yenne said.
“If you are selling it, it becomes a felony,” Yenne said.
Yenne said the pictures also were found on a Web site for the Big Beautiful Women of Manvel.
The Web site can be accessed through a user group on an online search engine. The site says there are 38 members of the group. Users must register and be accepted for membership before they may access the photos. Documents Yenne said her office pulled off the Web site list the rules members must observe at parties, including an admonition that all married members must bring their spouses.
Yenne said the pictures violate Texas law, which declares obscene any material that “depicts or describes patently offensive representations of ultimate sexual acts.”
The woman had the computer during the fall semester as part of an Alvin Community College program that loans laptops to students taking online courses.
The students sign an agreement to use the computers only for class-related purposes, said D.R. Potter, the college’s dean of financial and administrative services.
The program has been discontinued because of obsolete equipment, Potter said.
The investigation started as part of a Child Protective Services investigation, said Manvel Police Sgt. Carrie Martin, but the district attorney’s office took over the investigation.
CPS removed three children from the suspects’ house in June because of allegations of unsanitary conditions and neglect, CPS spokeswoman Estella Olguin said.
The children, girls ages 6, 2 and 1, are in a foster home together under CPS custody, Olguin said.
Manvel City Councilman Tommy Pollard said he was surprised to hear the news.
“You never know what the other guy is doing,” Pollard said. “I wouldn’t call that typical for Manvel. It’s not typical for me, but I can’t speak for the other guy.”