Eighteen months of legal wrangling over a two-metre wooden penis sculpture is set to come to an end in Wilton, New York.
Jamie Gagne was charged with displaying offensive sexual material by state police in June 2020. The amateur artist and woodworker had carved the cock in protest when the building permit for his workshop was revoked.
On an earlier visit by a single police officer, Gagne was advised that his sculpture could potentially be illegal if someone complained. The officer went on to explain that the work would not have been a problem if the penis was carved flaccid.
On arresting him police also removed the erect phallus, leaving only the wooden testicles at the base. First Gagne added a plaque, Times Union reports, stating the sculpture had been ‘castrated by State Police’, but three months later went on to carve a new penis-work.
Prosecutors say that they are willing to drop charges if Gagne agrees to remove the sculpture from public view, resolve his building permit violations, and not violate town noise and dumping laws for six months.
‘I will likely be auctioning off this shaft once this whole ordeal has concluded so it’s now or never’, Gagne writes on his website. ‘I anticipate a rich art collector will be buying it for about $30,000.’
