The Horse Cave Adult Book Store, which was ordered by a court this week to close permanently, was described by Hart County in court filings as a “house of prostitution.”

The establishment on Flint Ridge Road, visible to motorists traveling on Interstate 65, had been the site of numerous investigations in recent years, including into the deaths of two people found on the premises in a room that authorities described as a place where live sex acts took place.

While the closure of the business was announced Tuesday by the Hart County Sheriff’s Office in a Facebook post that also detailed some of the department’s investigative efforts, the process that led to the closure was years in the making, with Hart Fiscal Court becoming involved earlier in the summer.

“I’ve had several phone calls since (the sheriff’s announcement) yesterday from folks just saying ‘thank you, great job,’ ” Hart County Judge-Executive Joe Choate said. “They’re glad to see it gone and the community has been very supportive.”

Hart Circuit Judge Charles Simms III mandated the closure of the adult bookstore in an injunction entered Tuesday.

The judge’s order requires the owners of the property to enter a deed restriction that prohibits the operation of any sexually oriented business, the sale or rental of any sexual devices or media portraying sexual activity and the “offering of any performance by any person appearing in a state of nudity or semi-nudity” as defined by county ordinances.

Hart County Attorney Justin Baird said he was authorized by fiscal court to seek the injunction earlier this year, after fiscal court amended an existing ordinance that defined and regulated sexually oriented businesses.

Baird said he worked throughout the process with Chattanooga, Tenn.-based attorney Scott Bergthold, whose practice focuses on representing municipalities regarding regulation of adult businesses.

As the prosecutor of misdemeanor offenses in the county, Baird was also familiar with the many investigations of the bookstore undertaken by the sheriff’s office and the Greater Hardin County Drug Task Force.

“I even went down one time when they were doing arrests for indecent exposure and other charges and saw first-hand what was happening,” Baird said.

On July 21, Baird filed the motion for a temporary injunction on behalf of the county, making the case that the adult bookstore was a “public nuisance” and “house of prostitution” as defined by state law.

“HC Adult Bookstore has been providing paid access to its video booth and theater rooms area as a place for patrons to engage in illicit sex acts for many years,” Baird said in the filing.

According to the sheriff’s office, undercover law enforcement investigating suspected illegal activity at the business beginning in 2019 observed multiple instances of sexual acts there.

The sheriff’s office and the Greater Hardin County Drug Task Force also investigated two deaths on the premises of people who were found in the back room of the store, later discovering that the store was selling “poppers,” a drug similar in composition to amyl nitrate that the sheriff’s office said in its Facebook post was a volatile substance that is illegal to sell.

“The substance can cause a variety of health conditions, and are used to enhance certain sexual functions,” the sheriff’s office said in its Facebook post, adding that investigators seized several illicit substances after obtaining a search warrant for the property.

Baird’s filing for an injunction said the bookstore operated without a sexually oriented business license in violation of local ordinances and that the business had a security camera system that allowed its cashier to see activity in its video booths and theater rooms.

“HC Adult Bookstore has used video footage of patrons engaging in sexual activity in the video booth and theater room areas to promote its business as a place for engaging in (and observing others engaging in) sexual activity. … Operators of the business have taken steps to warn patrons in the video booth and theater room areas when police were arriving on the premises,” Baird said in the filing.

The request for the injunction names as defendants Subtle Inc., a corporation registered in Lexington and with its principal office at the Horse Cave address for the bookstore, along with its director and sole officer, Daniel Morton.

Flint Ridge LLC and its then-registered agent, Catherine H. Allen, were also named as defendants.

Records on the Kentucky secretary of state’s website indicate that Allen was no longer Flint Ridge’s registered agent as of Aug. 18.

Subtle Inc. and Flint Ridge LLC were organized in 2003, according to the secretary of state’s website.

The bookstore property was previously the site of a Jent Factory Outlet Mall.

Under terms of the injunction, the named defendants have to pay the county $20,000, in addition to agreeing to a deed restriction and permanent closure of the business.

The owners of the store are also under court orders not to operate a sexually oriented business anywhere in Hart County.

In exchange, the county will dismiss pending misdemeanor charges in several cases against two bookstore employees who have been cited for operating a place of entertainment without a permit.

“No other business like this is ever going to be on this property again,” Baird said.