DA Calls News Conference to Admit His Adult-Film Past; Credits Include 'Bedroom Bedlam'
A district attorney in upstate New York called an unusual news conference on Friday to respond to allegations he had acted in porn films in the 1970s.
Cortland County District Attorney Mark Suben admitted that the charges are true, Associated Press, the Syracuse Post-Standard and WSTM-TV report. Suben called the news conference after WSTM-TV published a story about a YouTube video of adult-film clips claiming that the actor in the videos, Gus Thomas, was the DA.
“Recently, materials have been circulated alleging that I was an actor in the adult film industry years ago in New York,” Suben said. “Those allegations are true. I was an actor in adult films in the early 1970s. I was also an actor in other venues including off Broadway, soap operas and commercial advertisements. A few weeks ago, when asked, I denied this to members of the press. I regret that and apologize for it.”
In one film, The Devil’s Due, Suben played a satanic cult leader who tricked women into bondage sex. “Gus Thomas” also appeared in The Lecher, Bedroom Bedlam, The Love Witch and Deep Throat 2. Suben had not yet enrolled in law school at the time. He has since worked as an assistant prosecutor with the Bronx County and Onondaga district attorney’s offices, as a city court judge, as a city corporation counsel and as a lawyer for Onondaga county.
Thomas had denied the porn-film allegations before the election. His opponent, lawyer Keith Dayton, told the Syracuse-Standard that Suben’s acting past isn’t his biggest concern. “I think the more important part is the lying,” he said.
