A sex doll shop that allows potential customers 'try before they buy' was closed down by authorities in Hong Kong.
The adult entertainment venue, called This Mary, charges clients HK$480 (£48) for an hour of alone time with one of the three silicone sex dolls before making a purchase.
Billed as the city's first sex doll brothel, media reports of the shop attracted the attention of police, who conducted a raid and arrested the owner on November 24, three months after opening.
Located in a 1,000 sq ft flat in a factory building in Kwun Tong, one of the largest industrial areas in Hong Kong, the shop provides three themed rooms for customers for the 'try-on experience': classroom, home and anime. Pornographic films will be shown inside the private rooms.
Male clients can also bring a female companion for a 90-minute session with one of the dolls for HK$860 (£86), according to the establishment's public Facebook page.
The human-sized silicon dolls are for sale between HK$18,000 (£1,800) and HK$30,000 (£3,000) and are fully customisable from the doll's height and weight to the colour of its hair, eyes and fingernails.
Citing hygiene concerns, the owner previously told South China Morning Post that customers are required to wear condoms and the dolls would be soaked in disinfectant for 30 minutes following each session.
A police spokesman said a 30-year-old man was arrested following an anti-obscene objects operation at a flat in the Hoi Luen Industrial Centre at about 6pm on November 24, according to a follow-up report.
Three television sets, 18 suspected indecent objects and three memory sticks were seized. The owner was released on bail and must report back next month.
A police source told SCMP that the man was arrested not for the sex doll business but for publicly displaying sex toys for sale without properly covering them as required by law, as well as showing pornographic films.
The three sex dolls on the premises were not seized because no relevant laws seemed to be applicable for police to act on, the source said, adding that further investigations were being conducted to see whether the business might be operating as an unlicensed guesthouse.
The owner, who has only been identified as Rex, previously told reporters that his service was to help people with intimacy issues.
'A person may want to talk to people, but perhaps they are not good at social skills, so they talk to the dolls. It's more than just sex,' he said.
Rex bought the dolls from a dealer in China - one of the largest makers of adult toys - as well as from Japan and the United States.
Following the police raid, the owner announced on Facebook that the shop had been temporarily closed down, citing 'problems with the company's operating model'.
This Mary's website that advertises it's doll products remained operational as of Tuesday.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
