PHILADELPHIA - A bid to overturn Pennsylvania's ban on pornography in prison reached a dead end Monday when the state Supreme Court ruled that jailed sex-offender Shannon R. Brittain, 34, who acted as his own attorney, had failed to "raise a genuine issue of material fact regarding the alleged invalidity of the pornography ban."

The law, adopted by the Department of Corrections in 2005, provided that “[i]n order to assist with rehabilitation and treatment objectives, reduce sexual harassment and prevent a hostile work environment, inmates will not be permitted to receive or possess pornography....”

LOS ANGELES – An AIDS charity has filed a lawsuit attempting to force the Los Angeles County health department to mandate condom usage on all porn sets.

Filed Thursday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, the petition seeks a court order “compelling the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health to discharge its ministerial and non-discretionary statutory duty to combat an acknowledged epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases stemming from production of hardcore pornography in Los Angeles County.”

LAKELAND, Fla. – A former Polk County, Fla., elementary school principal received a prison sentence of five years plus 10 years probation after his conviction on charges of possessing virtual child pornography.

The case is unusual in that the four images found in John Stelmack’s briefcase clearly depicted young girls’ faces superimposed on the naked bodies of women.

Stelmack, 62, was convicted in mid-June despite arguments that no children were harmed in the making of the images. His attorney said an appeal is underway.

LOS ANGELES, CA – A California appeals court on Tuesday heard new arguments in one of the most notorious sexual abuses cases in U.S. history. At issue: Whether a fugitive from justice retains certain due process rights if he seeks them in absentia.

The case at hand is that of Roman Polanski, an Academy Award-winning Hollywood director (Rosemary’s Baby, Chinatown, The Pianist) who in 1978 fled the U.S. in order to avoid incarceration after he pleaded guilty to having illegal sexual relations with a 13-year-old girl. Polanski, now 75, has remained at large in France since then while his attorneys continue the legal battle on his behalf.

NEWCASTLE, England – A former civil servant has been acquitted of the obscenity charges leveled against him over fictionalized rape, torture and murder fantasies published on the internet.

Darryn Walker, author of a 12-page blog posting titled “Girls (Scream) Aloud,” said the story was an adult parody and was not intended to frighten or harass the popular girl-band Girls Aloud, on whom the fantasy focused.

PATERSON, NJ – One of the Bravo network’s “Real Housewives of New Jersey” has succeeded, temporarily at least, in her bid to keep her real life from becoming part of other people’s fantasies.

On Wednesday, a judge granted Danielle Staub a restraining order to prevent an ex-lover from releasing a sex tape he made of the two of them, allegedly without Staub’s knowledge. Superior Court Judge Thomas F. Brogan also ordered Stephen Zalewski to surrender all copies of the tape and any compromising images of Staub in his possession.