42-year-old man wins suit against his parents for destroying porn collection

A Michigan couple has been ordered to pay their 42-year-old son after they destroyed a collection of pornography and sex toys he valued at $25,000. The action may end up costing them more than $75,000.

In the lawsuit Werking v. Werking, filed last year in Michigan Western District Court, David Werking said that, after a divorce, he had lived rent-free in his parents’ Grand Haven home for about a year. In August 2017, he moved out “at the request of local law enforcement,”  leaving many of his possessions behind.

A few months later, his parents — Paul and Beth Werking — delivered some of the possessions he had been asking that they return. He noticed some items were missing. In an email, he said, his father told him: “We counted twelve moving boxes full of pornography plus two boxes of ‘sex toys’ as you call them. We began that day the process of destroying them and it took quite a while to do so.”

Later, Paul Werking told his son that he had “destroyed your porn … for your own mental and emotional heath.”

David Werking estimated his collection was worth about $25,000. His itemized list of the destroyed property included 1,605 DVDs and VHS tapes. He requested that his parents be ordered to pay “treble damages” — three times the value — as well as court costs.

In their response, Paul and Beth Werking did not deny destroying the materials. Among their arguments were that their son had brought pornographic material into their house against their stated wishes and then had abandoned his property.

Last month, District Judge Paul Maloney granted the younger Werking’s request for summary judgment. The parties were given until Feb. 16 to file submissions on the issue of damages.