This article was to be featured in Baltimore Flavor magazine last month , but the publisher, Bill George, kept putting it on the back burner. He felt that the magazines target audience (ages 18-24) was more prone to reading lighter fare such as articles on roller blading, extreme skate boarding and fluffy interviews with up and coming actresses. Unfortunately Bill,who possesses a press agents mentality, is not one to delve into controversial subjects. But this is a story that must be told because it deals with a double sided issue: should a woman because she works in the adult entertainment industry be declared an unfit parent by the court system?
There are several paradox's to the life and career of Lorissa Mc Comas. She claims to have never done pornography, yet several of her videos have been labeled as softcore porn. Just check out her film credits on the IMDb. You'll find her adult film work interspersed with legitimate films and tv commercials. A Google search reveals Lorissa's name on several porn web sites. Upon investigating these websites,there are pictures of Lorissa touching herself in a provocative manner.But when I presented this information to her during an interview, she steadfastly maintained that this was not pornography. In her words," There is no insertion,no penetration, no real sex act committed. I've never have done sex with a man on tape.Yes, I've done softcore. But I'm not hardcore pornography and I don't do live hardcore pornography from my home." From Lorissa's perspective, she merely works in the adult entertainment industry. But one nagging question that persistently keeps cropping up is: isn't the adult entertainment industry and pornography pretty much one in the same?
So as of July 31, at 8:30 am the fate of Lorissa's parental rights were decided by Judge Greisbaum at the Viera Courthouse in Melborne, Florida. I attempted to contact Judge Greisbaum's office for information on the case,but was told they couldn't say anything about the case due to legal technicalities. A message left on an editor's answering machine of a Melbourne newspaper was never returned. I 'm left with Lorissa's version of the events which have turned her entire life topsy turvey. When I first talked to Lorissa I felt as if she was being the victim of a modern day witch hunt by a morally self righteous government agency. But as I kept listening to the taped conversation, certain things she said that didn't quite fit upon closer examination; there were inconsistencies in her statements. And while I promised Lorissa that this wasn't going be an ambush article presenting her in a bad way, I have to be honest, none the less, and call things the way I see them from the evidence presented to me.
In addition to her battles with the Florida Department of Child Welfare, Lorissa has contracted a crippling disease called RS Dystrophy, affecting her bones and joints to where it's difficult for her to walk. Sometimes she has to rely on a wheelchair to get around. " From my knees down I look like a bumpy mess," Lorissa says with a touch of humor. " But the rest of me still looks great. I can still work, I just have to wear pants now. So basically I won't be doing the nudity I did before. I'll just be doing regular clothed roles. That's all.".
Add to this tragic tale the fact that her brother is dying from AIDS.(At one point during the interview, he mischievously interrupted to say about his sister," So beautiful.")Then on top of all of that, Lorissa's mother died of cancer and her father became so distraught following her death, he committed suicide one night while she was acting in a movie; one wonders how Lorissa can even begin to cope with everything that has been heaped onto her plate.
But like all stories, let's start at the beginning: Lorissa began by modeling for Playboy, thus launching her career in the modeling industry. It was this association with Playboy that helped Lorissa to get a part in the movie SPRING BREAK : SORORITY BABES, which opened a door for her towards a career in acting. With a touch of well deserved pride, Lorissa told me that when she was on the cover of Playboy Book of Lingerie, she was also on the Deans list while attending Miami University.
Another honor bestowed upon Lorissa was being voted in The Top One Thousand Glamour Models of The Twentieth Century. Her name will go down in history as one of the one thousand most glamorous pinup models of all ages ; along with sexual icons such as Marilyn Monroe, Raquel Welch and Bettie Page,to name a few. She used the notoriety of being glamour model as a springboard for acting roles in sexy, low budget thrillers. Lorissa considers her career to be in higher end B movies or even A-ish productions in the motion picture industry. She told me at one point that she'll never do movies like THE BARE WENCH PROJECT anymore.
This was Lorissa's time for her career and personal life to flourish. It seemed as if the world was her oyster. But life, or fate if you will, had other less than pleasant situations in store for her; Lorissa would soon be facing obstacles and challenges that would bring financial problems, a mental breakdown and even cause her a series of physical ailments.
Lorissa moved from Los Angeles to Florida to help care for her mother who was stricken with terminal cancer. As Lorissa said to me," I was in bed with her and she physically died upon me. Which was traumatic enough. I had to go do a movie after her death, a couple of weeks later. When I left to go do the movie, my father blew his brains out. When I came home, my Dad's brains were all over the wall. That was the worst, most tragic loss in my life."
Lorissa then went into a deep depression. Turning into a recluse, she stayed at home, didn't call anybody and went as far as to disconnect the phone so nobody could call her; whether it be for movie roles or anything else for that matter. The trauma of her parents deaths resulted in Lorissa having a nervous breakdown which resulted in her not believing that her parents were really dead,but rather she thought she was on a reality tv show that was being mean to her. Following this incident, Lorissa was placed in the care of a mental hospital for three days.
As for her child Tristan being removed from Lorissa's care by the Child Welfare Department, it was an act of kindness on her part which proved to be her undoing. As the saying goes : No good deed goes unpunished.
It seems that Lorissa let a young girl move in with her and her husband Doug; a girl who had her share of problems which at the time Lorissa knew nothing about. The girl repaid their kindness by attempting to extort two thousand dollars from her, saying that if Lorissa didn't come up with the money she would call the authorities and have Lorissa's baby taken away from her. Naturally, Lorissa refused and then girl's threat escalated to her telling the authorities that Lorissa did porno right in the house with her baby around. One day, the girl returned accompanied by two three hundred pound girls and a male accomplice when Lorissa's husband wasn't there. The wheeelchair bound Lorissa was threatened by one of the three hundred pound girls who grabbed her crutch , stuck it in Lorissa's face and said they'd beat her f***ing ass if she didn't give them the money.
Prior to all of this, Lorissa had been on the phone talking to a long time fan. The fan happened to be listening to the altercation and immediately called the police department. When the police arrived, the two fat girls hid behind the door and promised Lorissa bodily harm if she dared to tell the police anything. Lorissa was so scared she lied to the officer saying there were no problems. After the policeman left the premises, her tormentors said they would leave her alone if she didn't say anything to anybody about the incident. At this juncture, her husband Doug came home. Unbelievably, the girls, who had previously held Lorissa hostage, called the police charging that he threatened their lives with a gun.
TO BE CONTINUED.
