(Trinidad Express) A sex doll that was seized by Customs officers in December of 2018 after it was imported into this country is to be returned to its rightful owner.
The mannequin will be returned to the man, an E-commerce consultant, upon his payment of security in the sum of $5,000 at the Arima Magistrates’ Court and the execution of a bond in which he undertakes to produce the doll to court for trial, in an unaltered state, if called upon to do so or for the purposes of forfeiture and condemnation proceedings.
The order was made by Justice Ricky Rahim at the Hall of Justice in Port of Spain yesterday morning.
Additionally, the State has been ordered to pay the man’s legal cost in bringing the claim.
Shortly after importing the doll, the man was informed by customs that it was in contravention of Section 45(1)(L) of the Customs Act.
That section state that it is prohibited to import any “indecent or obscene prints, painting, photographs, books, cards, lithographic or other engravings, gramophone records or any other indecent or obscene articles or matter.”
In delivering his ruling, Justice Rahim declared that the implementation of the policy by customs that any item considered a sex toy that closely resembles the male or female genitals is prohibited as being indecent or obscene under the section was unlawful.