A leader in ongoing efforts to oppose sexually oriented businesses in Kansas has taken a job with a national group that is fighting pornography.

Abilene resident Phillip Cosby has been hired to be executive director for Midwest operations for the National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families. He's working out of an office in Kansas City, Kan., for the Cincinnati-based nonprofit agency.

The national coalition was founded with the aim of educating adults and teenagers about the harms of pornography and protecting society from the sexual messages of today's culture.

Cosby said he and his wife, Cathy, plan to keep their home in Abilene while maintaining an apartment in Kansas City. Phillip Cosby is retired military.

Opponents in those cities have petitioned courts for grand juries to investigate claims that the sexually oriented businesses are breaking the state's obscenity laws.

A grand jury in Salina declined to bring charges against two stores, Priscilla's, 2144 Planet, and Behind Closed Doors, 768 N. Broadway. This week, groups in Wichita and Topeka are expected to present similar petitions for grand juries to investigate adult stores in those cities.

Cosby also has taken concerns about flaws in the state's obscenity law to state lawmakers, as well as advocating changes to restrict the kind of outdoor signs sex shops can display.

A judge previously tossed out obscenity charges brought in 2005 by a grand jury in Abilene against the Lion's Den Adult Superstore. He ruled that language in the statute outlawing materials with a “sexually provocative aspect” was too broad. A conference committee is expected to take up a bill to fix the statute when the Legislature reconvenes.

Kirk said the coalition hired Cosby because of his strong opposition efforts and with the hope those strategies can be used similarly elsewhere.

“It's a very hidden problem,” Cosby said Tuesday. “We need to talk about that and how to get free from that.” He said he'll also work to help opponents of the adult stores network their opposition.

Kirk, a former Presbyterian pastor in Cincinnati, worked with his county prosecutor to close down sexually oriented businesses in that city in the late 1970s and early '80s.

In December 2003, the coalition launched a boycott of the Abercrombie & Fitch Christmas catalog because of the young adult clothing retailer's use of sexually explicit pictures. The photos showed nude or partially clothed young people posing alone, in couples, threesomes and groups. The company stopped selling the catalog but claimed it did so to make shelf room in stores for its new women's fragrance line.

Their staff builds coalitions in cities all over the country, principally with parents, but also with officials at the Federal Communications Commission, politicians, and computer technology companies.

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