A well-known photographer and adult filmmaker, with 18 years in the adult industry, American Citizen Fred Salaff is best regarded for his luscious photography of black women.

Fred Salaff has been active in filmmaking all his adult life, since he started as a maker of corporate documentaries. He is best known under the Clayton Blacquemoor alias in the adult movie business.

An interesting article about him from SexNet can be found here: http://www.sexnet.com/gazette/clayton.html.

18 years ago, a friend introduced him to the adult business, and he went on to film such best-selling videos as “Caribbean Booty Call (A tantalizing video calendar immortalizing the most beautiful women the West Indies has to offer.)” (30,000 copies purchased by Blockbuster alone!), and the FJS International Black Mystique series. Many of his productions were filmed under the alias "Clayton Blacquemoor", while still residing in Los Angeles, U.S.A.

It was way back then that Fred Salaff overcame the odds and survived a brain tumor operation, which sequel is that he must take testosterone shots and a special medicine called Dostinex (Generic Cabergolin) to prevent a reoccurrence of his brain tumor. Nevertheless, you couldn’t find a happier man who is always cheerful and of a good heart for his good luck in surviving the operation. He also must take shots of Primotestone DEP every 15 days for the testosterone deficiency he suffers from his bout with the tumor. Dostinex can not be bought in Panama, so we have to pay expensive prices to bring it from outside.

Lurid Cover on Panama tabloid They are shocked, shocked I tell you! that adult activities might take place in little old Panama. Meanwhile, they run pictures of topless ladies on their print edition every day as being of "entertainment value to their readers". If only they remembered just WHO sold them the rights to the pictures... Photo Credit: Unknown

Three years ago, Fred Salaff decided to settle down and moved to Panama, Republic of Panama, looking for a sedate tropical lifestyle. He became very active in social groups of expats helping with his film making skills to produce beautiful materials promoting the beauty of the city, its monuments and the old Spanish fortifications of the Colonial Era.

It was also three years ago he met a beautiful young lady while on a trip to Cuba while filming documentaries about Cuban Music, one of his passions. He was smitten by her and married her shortly thereafter. He has been trying, unsuccessfully so far, to get her a visa to come to Panama to be with him.

While now located in Panama, business contacts still asked him to produce more adult films, featuring the beautiful Latin girls of this Caribbean country.

The law

Fred Salaff during happier days as Clayton Blacquemoor Photo Credit: SexNet.Com

Fred directed several more movies while residing in Panama. And, he decided it was best if he alerted the authorities as to his intentions to make sure he didn’t run afoul of any local laws.

So, a formal petition by Rio Bueno Ltd., on behalf of Fred Salaff was directed to the Ministry of Government and Justice of Panama, asking about the legality of filming adult movies in that country. By law, the government has 30 days to reply to a questionnaire filed by anyone. Even though it took much longer than that, Fred waited patiently for the answer.

Eventually, the government answered. After a check with all institutions and laws that could possibly apply, the response was exact. There was no law against the production of adult films in the Republic of Panama. As long as minors were not involved, you were free and clear.

The one dissenting note was that of the “Junta Nacional de Censura” (National Censorship Board) which function is to approve ratings for films to be shown in local cinemas. It is interesting to note at this point, that several adult movie houses operate with the permission of the Censorship Board in Panama City. Nevertheless, they recommended against it even though they admitted it was out of their jurisdiction. This writer shares the general feeling that a job at the Censorship Board consists of nothing more than free movie passes all year long. The rating system is whatever rating the movie got in the U.S. anyway. What work is there to do? The actual, official document is now posted here: PDF FORMAT (2 pages), JPG FORMAT PAGE 1, JPG FORMAT PAGE 2.

Later the government would try to backtrack saying that all that Fred Salaff asked for was legal requirements for making the film. The government note lists no legal requirements and ends by saying, pornography is not a crime in Panama. So, which is it??? Río Bueno, Ltd., S.A. is a properly set up Panamanian corporation, in good standing. Not much more than that is needed to conducts all sorts of business in Panama, as long as you pay your taxes, and don't deal drugs or launder money.

"Currently our legislation has not classified adult pornography, as a crime"

The shoot

Late last year, DEVILS Film, an adult production company from the U.S., asked Fred Salaff to be the location manager for one of their shoots.

Actors picked up for "questioning"...  and thrown in jail for weeks now "Justicia! Justicia!" (Justice! Justice!) they shouted to the press. Photo Credit: La Crítica

Mr. Salaff accepted the job, and set up casting sessions to have girls available for the performers sent by DEVILS Film.

Once the performers arrived in town, the shooting began at Mr. Salaff’s house in the beach community of Veracruz, a short 15 minute drive from the city of Panama. It is important to stress Mr. Salaff was not the director or photographer for this shoot. He was only the location manager in charge of procuring talent (casting) and locations.

Mr. Salaff took extra precautions this time around. The property is surrounded by an 8 foot wall around, and had two gates. He had one of the iron gates removed and bricked  the wall so that nobody could look in…

As for the other gate, he had it covered with heavy duty blue tarp to avoid onlookers, but still allow access to vehicles when needed.

For security, he went down to the police station, told them what he would be doing and asked for a National Policeman, to be stationed there. An agreement was drawn up, and the National Police started guarding the outside of the house from the curious for a fee.

Nevertheless, nosy neighbors wanted to know what was going on, and who were those guys now staying at Fred Salaff’s.

Local kids, egged on by adults, climbed up on trees around the property to see inside. Also, the kids started harassing the cop by throwing rocks at him so he would go away. Eventually, the police gave up, and told Salaff they would no longer provide the service. At this point Mr. Salaff hired a private security company to secure the house. There were no problems reported with that.

The Raid (updated 18-feb-2005)

Another detained actor Photo Credit: La Crítica

Suddenly, on Sunday, January 23, 2005, the Policía Técnica y Judicial (PTJ-DIIP) de Panamá descended on the house because of complaints by the neighbors that something funny was going on. About 8 scenes had been shot so far.

At this point it must be explained that in Panama there are several branches of police. The National Police help keep the order. The PTJ and DIIP do investigation into criminal cases. Other branches help with civil defense and border protection, since there is no military force after the U.S. Invasion of 1989.

Even though Mr. Salaff showed them the official letter from the Ministry of Government and Justice stating that what he was doing was not illegal, they still took him and the whole crew in for questioning. The government later would try to disavow responsibility of writing the letter. Tough luck, it is sealed, stamped and dated.

Update 18-feb-2005: We now have online an official statement from the Corregidor de Veracruz, the highest civil authority in the town, above even the national police, complaining about police misconduct, tampering of documents and illegal search warrant. Read the originals here in Spanish as a PDF file. Translation to come soon. CORR_VERACRUZ.pdf (1,241K)

The Case

Immediately, a lawyer was retained to work on the case, and, obviously, asked for a large retainer to cover the initial costs. Costs which are now escalating and which might top well over $25,000 USD.

Two days later, the media got wind of the story, and descended on the house during a visit by the Fiscalía (Prosecutor’s office). They were obviously tipped off by the Fiscalía that this was going down, otherwise, so many news people would have never found the house!

Porno Network claims El Siglo Notice large advertisement on upper right corner for phone sex and "Photoshop" model added to foreground of Salaff Residence. Photo Credit: El Siglo

First Panel: News Anchor to his cameraman, "damn... they put a gringo in jail for filming porn". Cameraman asks, "And what are you nervous about?" News Anchor responds, "surely they will want to put us in jail too for filming all the filth that happens at the National Assembly"

Second Panel: Lights... Camera... Action shouts a man labeled "Government", while an Uncle Sam ravishes a Panamanian beauty.

Third Panel: Woman asks policeman: "Crime against sexual freedoms? This is mine! And I want to charge for filming it, it is my free decision and my business! Or what? Should I starve to death and give it away for free because you want to?

Fourth Panel: Police spokesman says, "At the raid in Veracruz we found two-hundred..." Second policeman coughs, "mjm... mjm... cough... cough..." Police spokesman says, "err... sorry.. I meant TWELVE videotapes with porn on it"

This cartoon ran on the same edition as cover above Click on it to see the original at the source. Illustration Credit: El Siglo

It was a bona-fide media circus, with lurid tabloid headlines, sexual cartoons on the front page, TV coverage, and, predictably enough, a few days later, you could not find another mention of it on the papers or television. They sold their copies, presented their shows, and moved on to the next big scandal. There is no such thing as investigative journalism here. All kinds of strange stories and gossip are and were printed as fact. Particularly hilarious was when they interviewed a town drunk and crack user on TV about the goings-on at the Salaff residence. And we'd be laughing too, if the situation was not so serious. (Please see the video clip at the bottom of this page).

In the meantime, the almighty Carnival celebrations took place and courts shut down for the festivities with unusual celerity --for an institution that should have a blindfolded turtle as its mascot-- leaving the case stranded. More fodder for the tabloids, underage girls getting nearly naked on stage during Panama's very own Mardi Grass celebration, to the tune of Sexually Explicit Reggae and wet t-shirt, best butt and best thong contests.

Now, the pace picks up again as motions are filed, prosecutors look into the case, etc. (but money runs tight...).

Originally the charge was that girls couldn’t have possibly acceded to doing such filthy things for money, so they must have been pressured to do it. Mmm... sexual pressure (equivalent to rape in local law). Oops... they signed model releases and gave their adult consent... so, let's strike that. Can't make it stick... Better find something else or this case goes down the tube...

They decided that since minors were able to look into the property while perched on trees outside the property, a Corruption of Minors additional charge was appropriate. Perhaps they might have better luck there.

Behind Bars

To this day, February 15, 2005, Fred is still behind bars, lacking such essentials as a bed (you sleep on the tile floor), running water (there hasn’t been running water in the prison for months), edible food (what passes for rice is always scorched), or his medicines (they were lost in transit from the holding cell where he was originally detained in PTJ’s facilities in Ancon, a district of Panama City). La Joyita Prison (that means "little jewel", an irony if there ever was one), is an extremely overcrowded filthy prison where hardened criminals are sent to purge their sentences. Fred Salaff and the crew are thrown in with Murderers, Rapists, Drug Dealers and worse! Originally built to house less than 600 inmates, and with a population of 3,140+ (data from prison system's webpage) it is a dog-eat-dog hell, where if you have no money or friends, well, you can guess the rest.

Find out more about La Joyita's atrocious Human Rights Record by "googling" it here:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=la+joyita+prison&btnG=Google+Search
Prisoner Beatings - Hunger Strikes - Denunciations - The list goes on and on.

A formal visit by the Inter-American Human Rights Commission is reported here: http://www.thepanamanews.com/pn/v_07/issue_12/news_01.html 

Legal costs for this case will be running upwards of $25,000 just for Fred and Stefano alone or more and it still is nowhere near resolution. Habeas Corpus and other legal instruments are of no recourse in sexually related cases, therefore no bail has been granted. The only chance is to work very hard to have the charges dismissed by the court before it ever goes to trial... Trial meaning several months (or even years) down the road, unless we do something.

It is not uncommon in the Panamanian prison system to have prisoner awaiting trial for 3 or 4 years, to then be dismissed for lack of evidence or wrongful incarceration, without so much as an expression of regret by the authorities. Only quick lawyer action can help here by filing appeals, finding holes in the investigation, etc.

Contrary to what you might think, Fred Salaff does not have money. A filmmaker's life is about the product but not so much about huge profits. The money is made at the distributor level, with companies such as DEVILS FILM taking the Lion's Share of the profits. Therefore he took on adult projects reluctantly at this later stage in life to provide for his expenses in Panama. What little profits he accumulated have already been spent on his legal defense.

The Facts

The facts are: Fred Salaff did not do anything illegal. He took reasonable precautions to make sure minors were not involved and did not have easy access to his property to see things they should not see. Women (and men) involved in the film were of legal age, signed appropriate releases, and got all the medicals tests that are standard in the profession before being allowed on set. He does not deserve to be in La Joyita or any jail for that matter.

If this was any first world country such as the United States or any in the European Union, this would not have stood the most perfunctory scrutiny.

Double Standards

A double standard is in effect. In Panama, prostitution is legal and well publicized, as are adult dating services, sex phone lines and adult movie houses. There is a sex shop in every corner. Special "push-button" motels provide anonymity for trysts with full government approval, including health inspections. Massage parlors abound with government only caring that local and national taxes be paid, and health inspections are passed. Yet, when the adult material is produced in the country, it must inevitably be bad because, Lord Forbid, it will involve pure and chaste Panamanian ladies. I wonder who then buys the sex toys, and visits the push button motels if there are no willing women to go along?

DEVILS FILM has decided not to provide for the legal defense of Fred Salaff or his associate Stefano Simone who assisted with the production, on the grounds that he had a previous charge by a girl who complained that her image was used on the internet against her will. This has been proven to be now a part of the case, but not the reason they are behind bars. The fact still is, that the serious charge that is being laid upon them is that of “Corruption of Minors” because it is the only one vague enough to stand. In any case, her signed consent for the pictures to be used on any media is on file with the prosecutor's office and it makes for a very weak case, but a great excuse for the raid.

DEVILS FILM abandoned their contractor. As of this writing, we understand they might cover the legal defense of the remaining crew members (3 foreigners) who are still in jail along with Mr. Salaff and Mr. Simone. The director and photographer and director's girlfriend were "let go" under mysterious circumstances at 2:30 a.m. on a Friday following the detention. They immediately boarded a plane to Costa Rica and have not been heard from since. They had promised to talk to Devils film about helping out Fred Salaff and the rest of the crew, and Fred made sure his testimony helped them get off so they could go get help. The Panamanian lady was also let go as it was made clear by Fred that she just happened to be visiting the house at an unfortunate time. He has tried to take all blame unto himself to avoid hardships for the other crew members and actors.

DEVILS FILM has hung up on those who called inquiring about the Salaff case, so we are now extending our plea to everybody that can help with donations or publicity about the case. WE HOPE TO GIVE THEM A CHANCE TO COME CLEAN. SOMEBODY HELP US GET A STATEMENT FROM THEM WHICH WE WILL PUBLISH IN ITS ENTIRETY.

A Plea for Help

To that effect, we have set up accounts to which we can accept donations of money to help us raise as much as possible toward our, admittedly modest, goal of $25,000 for the legal defense fund of Fred Salaff. His closest friends in Panama are now tapped out and we need to reach out to the Adult Industry and Fans for help and support.

If you believe in Freedom of Expression, if it just more than words to you, please help us free Fred Salaff and everybody else from the abandoned DEVIL'S FILM crew who is in jail on the same absurd charges.

FRED SALAFF's health is not optimal and it will not improve in an overcrowded prison...

• where he was not allowed to go out into the yard for a little sun until we sent him a yellow t-shirt and shorts because the prison will not furnish clothing to inmates.
• where they had nothing to eat on for days because the prison does not give plates to the inmates to put their food in, or what passes for food in this third world country prison system. You are not allowed to bring food to the prison inmates. But you can give them "walk around money", $20 every 15 days, so they can purchase food from a kiosk run inside the prison that offers them better fare. I wonder if there is a story in THAT.
• where his brain tumor medicines were "lost" in transit from one prison to another. He must take his (expensive) medicine regularly to prevent a relapse of a brain tumor he had succesfully removed over 15 years ago. Now we don't even have enough to buy his next supply of Dostinex !!! A friend speculates that a cash gift to the appropriate warden might help the medicines "appear" on a forgotten shelf. We'll try not to take that seriously.
• when he worries about his wife in Cuba, left behind with no means of support and not enough money to help get an emergency visa and plane ticket to visit her husband.

IF YOU HEARD THIS HAPPENED IN THE U.S. of A. or in any other FIRST WORLD COUNTRY, do you think it would stand for a minute? Fred Salaff's civil liberties have been taken away. He is deprived of his LIBERTY, and all because a neighbor did not like the idea that something not to her liking was quietly happening behind closed doors at her neighbor's house.

Can we send a clear signal so that the next time a film crew flies down to a third world tropical country they do not get arrested on innuendo and suppositions of what they are doing? Perhaps we can, if we have the money to mount a successful defense!

To learn more about Fred’s case you can call the following number in the Republic of Panama:  +507-693-3635 (Chris). Also, visit the www.fredsalaff.com site for an update on the case. You will also be able to see some of his non-adult photography work if you follow this link:

"FRED SALAFF PHOTO GALLERY"

Regards,  ClubPro