Authorities in Missouri, US have charged six gay men with sodomy violations, reported a local newspaper. The six were arrested earlier this month in a police raid. They were caught having sex in the pornographic theater area of the adult video store just outside of St. Louis.

Under Missouri sodomy law, "deviate sexual intercourse with another person of the same sex" is a class B misdemeanor.

Bob Wilkins, a Jefferson County prosecutor said that he was hesitant to use the controversial statute, but that its use in this case was necessary.

"It is not my intention to judge the conduct of consenting adults," Wilkins told the newspaper on Monday. He maintained that the case was "not about throwing homosexuals in jail" and said that prosecution on the statute was being used only to combat what he called "open and notorious" sexual activity at the video store.