Stafford, Virginia- The movie Deep Throat, www.xxxdeepthroat.com was the subject of an obscenity prosecution case in Stafford, Virginia 20 years ago. The cops probably figured what worked once can work twice. And so Deep Throat is again the center of a storm surrounding a sex shop known as Pheromoans.

An undercover investigation by police this week resulted in charges against Lesley O. Mason and Meagan J. Pacheco, owners of Pheromoans, a sex shop which opened several months ago in North Stafford. Mason and Pacheco were indicted this week on three misdemeanor charges of violating the state’s obscenity laws. Each charge carries a maximum penalty of 12 months in jail and a $2,500 fine.

According to an affidavit for a search warrant filed in Stafford Circuit Court, Detective John Hughes began an investigation on Oct. 12 by going into the store and buying two movies, including “Barely Legal Hotties.”

Hughes wrote that the movies depicted graphic sexual relations that “have a dominant theme that which is prurient in nature.” That same day, court records state, another Stafford detective purchased two other movies. Those movies were said to be “purely sexual in nature and without serious artistic, literary, political or scientific value.”

Then on October 27 detectives returned to the store and bought “The Devil in Miss Jones” and “Deep Throat.”

Stafford prosecutor Jim Peterson said the investigation was spurred by complaints from the community. He said it’s not a crime to possess or buy certain obscene materials. But it is one to sell them.