Abilene ? A Dickinson County grand jury could be called upon to decide whether an adult novelty and video store near Abilene is peddling obscenity.

Members of Citizens for Strengthening Community Virtues presented a petition to the Dickinson County clerk this week asking for a grand jury to bring criminal indictments against The Lion’s Den.

The group’s ultimate goal is to force the adult-oriented business, which opened in September in a former Stuckey’s Restaurant just off Interstate 70, to close its doors for good.

“This community is just exploding,” said Phil Cosby, a spokesman for the group. “They’re thrilled with what’s happening, that we’re going to get rid of this place. The pornography industry’s days are numbered in the home of Eisenhower.”

Court Clerk Cindy MacDonald said the 285 certified signatures on the petition were plenty to summon a grand jury, which consists of 15 people drawn from a pool of county residents. The group would have up to three months to conduct its criminal investigation unless a judge extends its term.

A grand jury can bring criminal charges if 12 jurors agree.

The jury would be asked to determine whether the store’s wares constitute promoting obscenity, a misdemeanor. Under state law, promoting obscenity includes knowingly or recklessly selling sexually oriented goods.

Such materials or devices are deemed obscene, the law states, if an “average person applying contemporary community standards” finds them to be offensive, and that they lack “serious literary, educational, artistic, political or scientific value.”

If the grand jury finds the Lion’s Den violates those standards, Cosby said, “it will domino all over the state.”

“This is the silver bullet we’ve been looking for,” he said.

Similar tactics have worked in other states, said a Mississippi attorney who helped the Abilene group formulate its grand jury petition.

“(Grand juries) are a good way to go, for the simple reason that obscenity statutes incorporate the Supreme Court standard, which entails the community reviewing and establishing what’s offensive to their community,” said Steve Crampton, chief counsel for the American Family Assn.’s Center for Law and Policy in Tupelo, Miss.

Sandi Summers, field manager for the Lion’s Den, said the company — which operates stores in 11 different states — had faced legal challenges through its 32-year history and had never been forced to shut its doors anywhere.