City Councillor Charged in Stolen 'Porn' Case

City councillor William H. Walsh is facing a misdemeanor charge of malicious destruction, even as he prepares for sentencing on felony convictions.

Walsh was charged yesterday in district court for removing two dildos from a City Hall art exhibit last month, and a hearing is scheduled for December 6.

But the councillor will likely be in jail before then. Walsh is scheduled to be sentenced tomorrow in U.S. District Court for defrauding a New York branch of Dime Savings Bank out of $2.9 million.

The councillor's most recent legal troubles stem from an October 5 incident. On that date, Walsh removed two dildos and a metal box from "Identidem," an exhibit in Gallery 57, a public art space in the City Hall Annex. Hans Evers, the Cambridge artist whose work was featured, field a criminal complaint on October 18.

In an interview last night, Evers estimated the damage to the materials, including several mounts and plexiglass disks, at $300.

Evers said he field the complaint out of principle. "It's absolutely unacceptable that a private individual or a public city official would go into an exhibition and either remove work or damage work in the way that Walsh did," he said. "It's completely illegal and he acted very irresponsibly."

But Walsh said last night that the exhibit was obscene and pornographic and that Cantabrigians agreed. "I think it was my obligation as a councillor to represent those constituents, and I did," he said.

The councillor said last week that he would file a counter-complaint changing the artist with dissemination of obscene material. Walsh attorney James J. Rafferty, however, has postponed that decision.

Chapter 266, section 127 of the Massachusetts General Laws states that the maximum penalty for wanton destruction of personal property is up to ten years in prison or a fine based on the value of the property.

Evers' exhibit closed on October 28. The city council last month decided to hold a public hearing on the decision-making process used in selecting exhibits for Gallery 57.