Medical pot advocate faces child porn charge

The gay San Francisco man who authored California's medical marijuana law has been arrested on several charges, including one related to child pornography.

But in a phone interview Wednesday morning, Dennis Peron referred to the case as a "set up."

Peron appeared in San Francisco Superior Court Judge Donald Mitchell's courtroom for arraignment November 2 on five counts, including possession or control of matter depicting a minor engaging or simulating sexual conduct; possession of methamphetamine for sale; possession of MDMA (commonly known as ecstasy) and marijuana; and "opening or maintaining a place for the purpose of selling or using any controlled substance."

He pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Peron, wrote Proposition 215, the California Compassionate Use Act, which was passed by voters in 1996. He wrote Prop 215 in part as a eulogy for his deceased partner, Jonathan.

Peron, 64, was arrested at about 3:30 p.m. October 29 at his "Castro Castle" bed and breakfast at 3745 17th Street. He had been booked into the sheriff's department's custody October 30, according to Eileen Hirst, chief of staff for San Francisco Sheriff Mike Hennessey.

Peron said Wednesday that he posted bail and was released Tuesday night. He said his friends gathered $20,000 for his bail, which had been set at $200,000.

This isn't the first time Peron's faced legal problems in San Francisco. In August 1996, before Proposition 215's passage, police raided his Market Street Cannabis Buyer's Club. Prop 215 allows qualified patients to grow and use medicinal cannabis as recommended by their doctors.

He said Wednesday the police have been "trying to frame me since the 1990s," because they "weren't too happy" about Prop 215, among his other marijuana-related work.

There's an "element" in the police department that think "gay guys are all pederasts or all drugs addicts," said Peron.

"This is a set up. ... It's a total set up," he said of the current case. He said it stems from a raid of the house in August. At that time, police seized seven or eight computers, only one of which was his, he said.

Lieutenant Troy Dangerfield, a San Francisco Police Department spokesman, said he didn't know all the details of Peron's case, but said, "The police department has not been trying to frame him, and we don't do set ups."

Dangerfield said the department does things legally, and there's "absolutely no benefit to us framing a person."

An ounce of methamphetamine, which was not his, was seized, said Peron. He said that he thinks two hits of MDMA were his, and 14 ounces of marijuana they found also belonged to him. He said he doesn't sell pot but smokes it for health-related reasons.

Peron said the Castro Castle is a bed and breakfast with eight rooms that range in price from $65 to $100 a night. A link to the castle's website refers to it as "the world's only bud and breakfast."

He indicated that the others in the house in August had rented rooms for a night and he hadn't known any of them personally. He said other people had been let go, and he also couldn't immediately say what their names were.

Peron said there was no pornography on his computer and he never saw the pornographic material in question. He said police returned in October because they had found pornography on one of the computers.

"I'm not exploitive of children," he said. "l love children, and I would never exploit them."

Seth Steward, a spokesman for the District Attorney's office, said he couldn't provide more detail on the charges.

"The case is still under investigation," Steward said last week.

Assistant District Attorney Lisa Culbertson of the child assault unit is prosecuting the case.

David Wilton, the lawyer appointed to represent Peron, did not respond to a request for comment last week.

The preliminary hearing date for Peron's current case is scheduled to be set on December 6.