LA_MERC_Dirge
December 27th, 2002, 09:23 AM
Children Uncover Pornographic Photo in Barney the Dinosaur Song Book
Friday, December 27, 2002
BERGENFIELD, N.J. — Two youngsters who wanted to sing along with Barney the Dinosaur opened a music book and discovered a photograph of a man and woman in a naked embrace.
The photo, which ran under the words "Wilder Sex," was in a "Sing-Along Songs Barney" book a couple bought for their 4- and 7-year-old children.
Rosemarie Arnold, an attorney for the unidentified family, said the photo came from a review of pornographic movies published in a German-language magazine.
The children found the photo when a plastic panel fell off the book, Arnold said. Along with the English-language "Wilder Sex," she said the page included other adult movie reviews, written in German, that were rated with pairs of lips instead of the more common stars.
Publications International Ltd., the book's Illinois-based publisher, has had similar problems in the past and claims the China-based company that produces books is to blame for the errors.
Publications International officials were not immediately available for comment. They noted in a letter to the family the picture was not especially shocking.
"The material is no more graphic than what's seen on magazines, billboards and TV every day," the letter said.
Arnold said her clients, who do not plan to take legal action in the case, do not care who is at fault.
"They want some sort of apology and maybe reassurance for the children that Barney is pure," Arnold told The Record of Hackensack for Friday's editions.
Friday, December 27, 2002
BERGENFIELD, N.J. — Two youngsters who wanted to sing along with Barney the Dinosaur opened a music book and discovered a photograph of a man and woman in a naked embrace.
The photo, which ran under the words "Wilder Sex," was in a "Sing-Along Songs Barney" book a couple bought for their 4- and 7-year-old children.
Rosemarie Arnold, an attorney for the unidentified family, said the photo came from a review of pornographic movies published in a German-language magazine.
The children found the photo when a plastic panel fell off the book, Arnold said. Along with the English-language "Wilder Sex," she said the page included other adult movie reviews, written in German, that were rated with pairs of lips instead of the more common stars.
Publications International Ltd., the book's Illinois-based publisher, has had similar problems in the past and claims the China-based company that produces books is to blame for the errors.
Publications International officials were not immediately available for comment. They noted in a letter to the family the picture was not especially shocking.
"The material is no more graphic than what's seen on magazines, billboards and TV every day," the letter said.
Arnold said her clients, who do not plan to take legal action in the case, do not care who is at fault.
"They want some sort of apology and maybe reassurance for the children that Barney is pure," Arnold told The Record of Hackensack for Friday's editions.