APnv 05/27 1328 Drost Suit LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) -- A California nudist camp operator who

APnv 05/27 1328 Drost Suit


   LAFAYETTE,  Ind. (AP) -- A California nudist camp operator who
once owned the Naked City nudist resort near Roselawn has filed a
$1 billion lawsuit against the state of Indiana and a $50 million
suit against Newton County.

   The suit was filed in U.S. District Court by  Dick  Drost  and
alleges  49  violations  of civil rights, obstruction of justice,
racketeering influence  and  corrupt  organization,  bribery  and
sexual assault laws.

   The  list  of  defendants includes Newton County Prosecutor R.
Steven  Ryan;  County  Commissioners  Peter  Bisbis  and  Michael
Williamson; former Newton Circuit Court Judge Newell Lamb; former
Newton  Superior  Court Judge Mark Bauer; The Journal and Courier
newspaper in Lafayette; two local ministers, and the operators of
rival nudist resort, the Ponderosa Sun Club.

   Drost, 50, currently lives in Homeland, Calif.,  in  Riverside
County, where he operates Naked City L.A.

   Drost,  formerly  of  Chicago,  owned  and operated the former
Naked City in northern Newton County from 1968 to 1986.  In 1985,
he was charged with molesting a  13-year-old  girl,  as  well  as
showing obscene films and materials to minors.

   On  March  24,  1986,  Drost  agreed  to  plead  guilty  to 10
sex-related  misdemeanors  and  was  given  a  10-year  suspended
sentence.   Under  the  agreement,  Drost also was to stay out of
Indiana for 10 years.

   "This prosecution was nothing more than enforcing a particular
fundamentalist Christian point of  view,  thereby  attempting  to
establish  a religion," Drost's attorney, Douglas Palaschak, said
Tuesday.

   "We are alleging a  multitude  of  civil  rights  violations,"
Palaschak said.

   John  Casey,  one of the defendants and an attorney for Newton
County, said the suit, which was filed  last  week,  is  "totally
unfounded  and  was filed with no other intent than to harass the
county and county officials."

   Casey added that there  may  be  "more  motivation  than  pure
harassment, but what it is, I don't know."

   He  said Drost's ability to remain out of jail despite several
sex-related convictions "makes him think he can  do  whatever  he
wants with total immunity."

   "This man  should  be  in jail.  Instead, he's in California,"
Casey continued. "He was let off by a technicality in this state,
and had that not occurred, he would not be so flippant."

   Drost's  guilty  plea  to  obscenity  charges  in   1982   was
overturned  on  appeal because the sentencing judge had failed to
tell Drost that his sentence could  be  enhanced  or  reduced  by
aggravating or mitigating circumstances.

   The  Indiana  Supreme Court has since ruled that a single flaw
no longer is automatic grounds for overturning a conviction on  a
guilty plea.

   The  former  Naked  City  resort in Newton County continues to
operate as a nudist resort, the Adam and Eve Club.

   "We want to get back into Naked City -- absolutely," Palaschak
said.

   The  attorney  declined  to  comment  on   county   officials'
allegations  that  Drost  is  violating  the  terms  of his court
agreement by having a hand in the operations of the Adam and  Eve
Club.

   
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