5 Marines Involved, Porn Boss Says -- Fearful Ringleader Plans To Hide

OCEANSIDE, Calif. - A home repair "fix-it" man, described by police and military investigators as the leader of a gay Marine pornography-production ring, said yesterday that more than 500 active-duty personnel at Camp Pendleton have been involved in his mail-order video operation.

"Bobby," 39, who requested anonymity but whose identity was confirmed through law-enforcement sources, said that many more Marines nationwide dabble in heterosexual and homosexual pornography.

"They do it mainly for the money," he said, noting that today's Marines are frustrated over the corps' low pay, which "doesn't go very far" in such expensive areas as north San Diego County, where Camp Pendleton is located.

"Most Marines today are totally unappreciated," said Bobby, whose operation was based in a garage apartment overlooking the downtown area of this coastal city not far from Camp Pendleton.

"They're lonely, homesick and horribly underpaid," he said, "and most women don't want to have anything to do with them. It's not like World War II anymore. Women here want college guys who want to be attorneys and who can give them a nice car and nice family."

Now, saying he fears for his life, Bobby claimed at a seaside interview here yesterday that he had burned his erotic sex materials and is moving to San Francisco to "hide out" with friends before a Marine investigation heats up.

He said he began his mail-order operation three years ago after having photographed Marines in private sessions since moving near the base from Los Angeles in 1974 just to be closer, in his words, to "these men I have a weakness for - Marines."

He said he also acted as the point man in a referral operation, whereby other makers of pornographic videos in the San Diego area would pay active-duty Marines upwards of $250 for taping sessions that ranged in length from 20 to 90 minutes.

About 20 percent, or "every two in 10" of the Marines he videotaped or referred to other agencies were homosexual or bisexual, he said. But even heterosexual Marines were willing to be photographed with other men, he said, "for the money or just the thrill of it."

"A Marine, you give them a few beers, and of course, a few hundred bucks, and that's usually enough," he said, adding that he had sold "thousands" of his own videos to friends over the last three years, at prices starting at $25.

Child-abuse investigators for the Oceanside Police Department announced last week that they were closing an inquiry into a gay male pornography-production ring because it did not involve underage boys, as detectives had originally feared.

Detectives then turned over to the Naval Criminal Investigative Service at Camp Pendleton a photograph album and business brochure passed from "Bobby" to one of his clients, who police say could implicate between two dozen and 200 active-duty Marines.

Although few civilian laws restrict homosexual or heterosexual pornography, the Uniform Code of Military Justice forbids personnel from engaging in sodomy, prostitution, pandering or distributing obscene material in the mail.

Base spokesman Col. Fred Peck said yesterday that "despite allegations that a large number of (active-duty) Marines may have been involved, at this point we have been unable to identify a single one."

Meanwhile, Bobby said two Marines tried to break down the door of his apartment on Saturday, he said, and two others made threatening phone calls.

"I'm out of here," he said. "It's just too dangerous. It's crazy. I don't want to die over this. It's not worth it. But I'm off the hook (with civilian authorities), and the Marine Corps - they can't touch me."

He began photographing Marines as a hobby, he said, and it evolved into a videotape production business when a friend suggested he explore it a way to supplement his income as a "fix-it repair man" around Oceanside.