Platinum Plus Greenville ordered to close again

Judge Charles Simmons has ordered Platinum Plus Greenville to close for six months, according to a court document filed this week.

The court ordered the strip club to close for 180 days and imposed a $100,000 fine against the business. Simmons gave Platinum Plus a 14-day "wind-down" period to close.

It is the second time since May 2015 that the court has ordered the embattled strip club to shut down.

Read more: Videos show lap dances in Platinum Plus contempt case

In April 2015, the Solicitor's Office filed a lawsuit alleging that Platinum Plus, located on Frontage Road near Interstate 385, was a public nuisance, based mainly on numerous allegations of prostitution. Simmons imposed a temporary closure in May 2015 until the case went to trial.

Prior to trial, the Solicitor's Office and Platinum Plus agreed in a consent order that the business would close for six months. The consent order also stipulated the strip club would install cameras throughout the business and that the Solicitor's Office could review the tapes whenever it wanted. Solicitor Walt Wilkins proclaimed the consent order meant Platinum Plus would no longer operate as a sexually-oriented business.

Simmons said evidence showed Platinum Plus willfully and repeatedly violated the order within seven days of reopening in November 2015. The Solicitor's Office gave notice to the strip club in January and February about the violations, but they continued to occur, Simmons said in his findings.

June 2016: Solicitor seeks closure of Platinum Plus for the second time since May 2015

In April 2016, Wilkins petitioned to the court that Platinum Plus was in contempt of the consent order, which prohibited certain simulated sexual acts and required the dancers to have a certain amount of coverage for their body parts. In a hearing last month, the Solicitor's Office presented video evidence of strippers violating the consent order.

Simmons said the evidence showed that Platinum Plus "turned an institutional blind eye to violative conduct."

In the ruling this week, Simmons said that video monitoring of the business will continue for one year after Platinum Plus reopens. Within 30 days of reopening, the business must put $6,500 into an escrow account to pay for costs and fees incurred by the independent monitors.

Simmons stipulated the $100,000 fine against Platinum Plus will be given to the Greenville County Sheriff's Office to procure body cameras for its patrol officers. This now gives the Sheriff's Office $268,000 to buy body cameras when combined with a $135,000 state grant and another $33,000 grant.

The Sheriff's Office investigated allegations of prostitution at Platinum Plus during a yearlong, undercover operation. The investigation resulted in charges against dancers, hostesses and a manager.

"This will provide a benefit to the citizens of Greenville County, while also protecting our committed and dedicated law enforcement officers," Simmons said in his ruling.

The Solicitor's Office had sought a $280,000 fine and criminal contempt charges against Gregory Kenwood Gaines, the CEO of Elephant Inc., which is the parent company of Platinum Plus. Simmons chose not to find Gaines in contempt of court because he questioned whether the consent orders "established in sufficiently definite terms the duties and obligations Gaines was personally undertaking." Simmons also said there wasn't evidence that Gaines willfully "violated the consent order beyond either a reasonable doubt or clear and convincing standard."

However, Simmons warned Gaines that he may be subject to contempt of court sanctions if Platinum Plus violates the consent order again.

"Moving forward, Gaines may not assert ignorance of such facts to avoid the responsibility undertaken under the 2015 order," Simmons said in his ruling.

An attorney for Platinum Plus could not be immediately reached for comment Thursday.