Webmaster Faces Charges
 

Webmaster Faces Charges Over Zoning

ENFIELD, Conn. ? Dominatrix Michelle Silva, who owns and operates bondage and S&M website EmpressM.net out of her residence, has turned herself in to Connecticut police to answer charges of zoning violations.

Silva had obtained a permit for her business, and explained its adult nature to a zoning enforcement officer when applying for the permit.

Police began investigating Silva in January 2005 after receiving an anonymous letter about activities taking place within her house. Officers searched the house and seized fetish toys, bondage items and seven computers that were analyzed at a state police forensic computer lab.

Silva, who also operates FortressOfPain.com and NortheastGoddess.com proclaimed to be not guilty at the time. Two rooms in her house were converted into studios for filming.


?I understand what the charges mean, but I don?t understand how they apply to me,? Silva said. ?The whole thing seems to be very underhanded.?

Police Chief Carl J. Sferrazza said the zoning count Silva faces is not a criminal charge.

?She was running a business out of her house, and it?s a violation of the zoning regulation to run this kind of business,? Sferrazza told the Hartford Courant. ?She?s been talking very openly. We?re not going to respond to her in this venue. She makes claims that this isn?t really sexual conduct. We?re not going to get into that.?

Silva claims police made disparaging remarks about her lifestyle while raiding her home and did not show her a copy of the search warrant.

?At this point, I noticed there were two, possibly three dozen officers in the house,? Silva wrote on her website about the raid. ?[Police] were making degrading and humiliating comments about the things they were taking. At the same time, we were being questioned by the officer who was guarding us about our fetish lifestyle.?

All three of Silva?s websites remain operational, but she claims to not produce any more videos from her house. At its peak, Silva?s sites made roughly $5,000 per month, she claims.





Goodluck Michelle Silva...

I think she should file a lawsuit asap. aganist the police department.. I don;t think they used S.O.P.

double post

they left out she is a pro domme and having customers in her house. It really has nothing to do with websites.

That should be a relief for many :pimp !!

Yep zoning only comes to play when customers come to the house. A adult site doesnt have to follow zoning because no customers come to the house and pay a fee.

she is a nice person who has been trying to run a buisness as a DOM.

the police in her area don't like her...

?The whole thing seems to be very underhanded.?

If she had customers at her house she was breaking the law, PERIOD.

Yep most dont understand domination. They mistake it for escort and if its done in the true sense its not.

Webmaster Faces Charges Over Zoning

BUT, Silva had obtained a permit for her business.

wtf I don't understand, she had a permit to run a dom service out of her house, and she advertise;s in Ct, I live here and Have been over her house several times, for Fetish buisness. no pleasure...

?The whole thing seems to be very underhanded.?

her buisness has been in ct same house for years, and this is not the first time the police have tried to do something, but man they really did everything they could this time. I wish her the best.
:thumbsup

I seriously doubt she got a permit to run a dungeon in her house. What some doms do is get a business permit that says they make domination furnature or sometype of bullshit like that. I knew several who did that.

bulllll

She violated a zoning bylaw. Raids happen for that shit.

She definitly gotta have a talk with a lawyer

Oh RLY? Zoning violations happen all the time. Some get away with them and some get shit, but a rare day they get a warrant and go through the computers. Think they were looking for more.

hope it works out well

I remember reading about this last year here and I think she even commented on it at the time.

What I've read elsewhere is "She had registered for a home office, not a studio for running a web site".

"Michelle Silva of (deleted by me) has been charged with violation of zoning regulations, promoting prostitution, promoting prostitution in the second and third degree, and prostitution, Police Chief Carl J. Sferrazza said."

Since most BDSM does not involve sex, it will be interesting to read how they can try to nail her for prostitution. Although the article above seems to indicate everything was dropped down to a minor zoning violation ...

unlucky chucky

yeah such a small technicallity ...no wonder she was not showed things i bet the police have plenty of DVDs to watch on night shift :1orglaugh :1orglaugh

GFY law practice at its best.

if she was fucking guys up the ass with dildos then they can get her for prostitution. The reason I know about this is I ran a pro dungeon for 4 yrs.

you guys are geniuses.... police don't show up and seize property for "zoning violations"

Webmasters need to read this and learn from her mistakes.

I am curious, what real proof was there that she was operating the business from her house? The business permit? Perhaps that was her mistake.

Does an "anonymous tip" rise to the level of proof? I doubt it. Although, it might be probable cause for an official to make an inquiry.

and i helped for a week :)

strip clubs, sex shops are always getting harassed by the police.. for "zoning" and whatever else they can dream up.


-star

Yes, I know, but she claimed there was no sex if I remember correctly.

Wrong advise, a paving contractor doesn't have customers make house calls either.

When applying for a business license the address can become an issue if you are not in a "mixed use area"

2257 regs make you state a business address ....

No I wasnt clear, if you have customers coming to your house and doing a form of adult entertainment. They dont give permits for that because you would need adult entertainment license and homes arent zoned for this.I worked in bricks and mortar adult for over 18 yrs. I know what Im talking about.

alot of good points...