Stephen M Cohen

A Trabuco Canyon man who ran a swingers' sex club from a residence in an upscale Cowan Heights neighborhood will not be retried on charges that he violated county zoning laws, the prosecutor handling the case said Wednesday. Stephen M. Cohen, 43, whose trial ended July 2 with the jury split 8 to 4 in favor of acquittal, is free to continue operating his mate-swapping club as a result of the charges being dropped. "It was a decision made by our office," Deputy Dist. Atty. Stephanie George said.

Online porn portal Sex.com offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of fugitive Stephen Michael Cohen, the former Orange County businessman who hijacked the lucrative Web address for five years. Cohen forged a letter to Internet registrar Network Solutions in 1995 to gain control of the domain name, then turned it into a hard-core site that was among the Web's biggest moneymakers, according to records in the long-running legal fight that followed.

The man accused of operating a swingers sex club from a house in Cowan Heights denounced the charges against him Friday as a violation of his constitutional rights. "This trial has nothing to do with sex," said Stephen M. Cohen, 43, of Trabuco Canyon outside court. "These were lawful activities behind closed doors." On Friday, Deputy Dist. Atty.

A Trabuco Canyon man who ran a swingers' sex club from a residence in an upscale Cowan Heights neighborhood will not be retried on charges that he violated county zoning laws, the prosecutor handling the case said Wednesday. Stephen M. Cohen, 43, whose trial ended July 2 with the jury split 8 to 4 in favor of acquittal, is free to continue operating his mate-swapping club as a result of the charges being dropped. "It was a decision made by our office," Deputy Dist. Atty. Stephanie George said.

A mistrial was declared Tuesday after jurors said they were deadlocked in the trial of a man accused of running a swingers' sex club from a house in upscale Cowan Heights. Stephen M. Cohen, 43, of Trabuco Canyon had been charged with two misdemeanor counts of violating local zoning laws by operating an adult business in the residential area.

In the heart of pricey Cowan Heights, Stephen M. Cohen operated a swingers club that held parties offering a smorgasbord of sexual activities for $40 a couple, a prosecution witness testified Thursday. Sheriff's investigator Charles Daly, testifying on the first day of Cohen's misdemeanor trial, said he "heard a lot of moaning and groaning" and saw a number of sexual acts at the Brier Lane residence that he and a female officer went undercover to investigate.

Online porn portal Sex.com offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of fugitive Stephen Michael Cohen, the former Orange County businessman who hijacked the lucrative Web address for five years. Cohen forged a letter to Internet registrar Network Solutions in 1995 to gain control of the domain name, then turned it into a hard-core site that was among the Web's biggest moneymakers, according to records in the long-running legal fight that followed.

A Cowan Heights swingers' club was not a business, but rather a private organization like the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts or Elks Lodge, a lawyer for the club's operator said in closing arguments Monday. "It was not a business, but a club to support a lifestyle," defense attorney William J. Kopeny said. Prosecutors disagreed, noting that the club's owner, Stephen M. Cohen, took out advertisements and collected fees from "patrons." The club, prosecutors say, was operated for a profit.

A mistrial was declared Tuesday after jurors said they were deadlocked in the trial of a man accused of running a swingers' sex club from a house in upscale Cowan Heights. Stephen M. Cohen, 43, of Trabuco Canyon had been charged with two misdemeanor counts of violating local zoning laws by operating an adult business in the residential area.

The man accused of operating a swingers sex club from a house in Cowan Heights denounced the charges against him Friday as a violation of his constitutional rights. "This trial has nothing to do with sex," said Stephen M. Cohen, 43, of Trabuco Canyon outside court. "These were lawful activities behind closed doors." On Friday, Deputy Dist. Atty.

In the heart of pricey Cowan Heights, Stephen M. Cohen operated a swingers club that held parties offering a smorgasbord of sexual activities for $40 a couple, a prosecution witness testified Thursday. Sheriff's investigator Charles Daly, testifying on the first day of Cohen's misdemeanor trial, said he "heard a lot of moaning and groaning" and saw a number of sexual acts at the Brier Lane residence that he and a female officer went undercover to investigate.