GRAND HAVEN, Mich. — A federal judge has decided not to throw out a lawsuit filed by a man who says his parents destroyed his porn collection worth nearly $29,000.
FOX 17 is choosing to identify the plaintiff in this story as “Charlie,” as this is a civil case without any associated criminal charges.
Charlie filed a lawsuit against his parents back in April, accusing them of destroying 
multiple boxes of pornography and ” adult toys” that he had left at their house.
In May, Charlie’s parents filed a motion to have the case thrown out. Among other points, they argued that their son must “prove that the defendants turned the property to their own use or used the property for their own purposes.” The motion argued that their destruction of the porn did not do that.
The federal judge presiding over the case looked at this issue when issuing an opinion as to whether or not to dismiss the case, saying that even destroying property could be an “own use.”
The judge refers to emails between Charlie and his father that were included in the lawsuit filing. He writes that the parents “were motivated to destroy the pornography from a belief in its deleterious effects.”
In an Aug. 2 ruling, the judge allowed Charlie’s case to proceed “because he has alleged that his parents were motivated to destroy the pornography because of his deleterious effects on his mental and emotional health, so the motions to dismiss will be denied.”
This decision effectively moves the case forward to a possible trial.
MORE INFO: Click here for the full details on the lawsuit filed.
