Police legally searched the home of a 29-year-old Lawrence man accused of molesting three young children, a judge ruled Tuesday.

The man’s attorney had sought to suppress evidence from the June 6 search, which police conducted after a family member found a videotape of the man performing sex acts with the young girls. All of the girls, ages 2, 4 and 6 at the time, are acquaintances of the suspect.

Defense attorney Jim George argued, among other points, that a search warrant for the home was defective because it sought all pornographic material.

George argued the wording was too broad and resulted in police seizing legal pornography protected by the First Amendment.

“I’ve never found a case that says this kind of language is all right,” George said.

But Judge Paula Martin said that court cases George cited involved police searching businesses for materials that were possibly illegal under anti-obscenity laws.

“Here the officers were not seizing the items because they were illegal. … They were being seized because they were related to an ongoing investigation,” Martin said.

Martin also denied a motion to suppress the man’s statement to a Douglas County Sheriff’s detective.

The man is scheduled for a two-day trial starting Nov. 24 on charges including rape and aggravated indecent liberties with a child.

The Journal-World generally does not identify suspects in sex crimes unless they are convicted.