Sex Parties Bring 4-Year Prison Term

A Los Angeles man convicted of hiring women to stage sex parties in banquet halls for up to 200 men at a time was sentenced Friday to four years in state prison.

Allen Junis Williams Sr., 57, was convicted last month on five counts of pandering for a series of private parties he threw at several banquet halls in the Windsor Hills and Inglewood areas. Torrance Superior Court Judge William E. MacFaden could have sentenced him to as much as 11 years and four months in state prison.

Williams was arrested Sept. 9, 1990, at Ashton’s Shatto Banquet Hall in Windsor Hills when surprised sheriff’s deputies walked in on what they called “a wild sex party” involving about 200 men and at least a dozen females.

One deputy testified during Williams’ trial that he saw naked women in the room performing sex acts with some men while others watched.

“The naked women had a belt attached around their bodies which contained a pouch for collection of money,” said a probation report summarizing the deputy’s testimony.

Deputies surrounded the room, but ultimately concluded that they could not arrest everyone. Williams and a bartender were taken into custody, as well as four of the dancers “for lewd conduct which included providing oral copulation . . . and sexual intercourse while dozens of men were watching,” the report said.

The dancers ultimately were granted immunity in return for their testimony against Williams.

The report said women who also had worked at four previous parties between April and July, 1990, testified that Williams told them they could earn more than $500 per night.

“The more touching they permitted, the more money they could make,” the report noted.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Marc Chomel said Williams organized the parties by renting a hall for as much as $2,000, arranging a buffet spread, taking out a liquor license through a friend’s nonprofit business and hiring strippers. Williams then invited friends and acquaintances to pay $15 to $20 to attend the gatherings.

“The parties just got worse and worse,” Chomel said.

But defense attorney James Hallett, who said he will appeal Williams’ conviction, said his client acted only as a doorman at the gatherings, collecting admission fees, barring minors and assisting with security.

“He neither knew what was going on inside nor, more importantly, did he have any intent to have these lewd acts taking place inside,” Hallett said.