Mad Mall Moms Want to Limit Access to Sexually Explicit Items for Children

In an effort to shield children from what they deem is inappropriate adult content, some Durham, N.C., parents have waged a campaign against mall stores selling sexually explicit items that are accessible to children.

Some North Carolina parents are upset that their local malls display sexually explicit content to which children have access.

(ABC News)

The parents have targeted the national chain Spencer's Gifts, which is known for selling sexually provocative items along with gag gifts and goofy presents. In fact, in one mall the store sits adjacent to a Build-a-Bear workshop and in another it's beside a kids' carousel.

Carol Shepard, one concerned mother, said she was upset by what she saw in the store.

"I went in to see for myself and it was disgusting," said Shepard, who confronted a store clerk a year and a half ago when she noticed two teens buying sex toys. "I said, 'would you sell these to young kids?' And he said, 'oh yeah, the only thing we can't sell them is lighter fluid.'"

Laura Hall, another parent, said she was shocked when she went to the store to buy a gag gift for her husband's birthday.

"My 11-year-old walked up with a sex toy and asked what it was," Hall said.

Some parents have taken a video camera into stores to document how graphic some of the items in the store are. When they attempted to post the video on YouTube to warn other parents, the site found the pictures too graphic and flagged it as inappropriate and restricted it to people 18 years old and older.

"The question to me is how are the YouTube standards, why pornographic there, but in our town of Durham, N.C., is it OK," said Virginia Dirschl.

Hidden Camera Investigation

So ABC News affiliate WTVD conducted an investigation to see what teens could access inside the store. With parents' consent, WTVD sent three girls between ages 13 and 14 into a Spencer's at Durham's Northgate Mall with a hidden camera.

The girls were allowed to view sexually explicit greeting cards, and pick up sex toy after sex toy.

When the teens tried to look at even more of the store's sexual selection, a clerk stopped them.