Man accused in sex ring says he's innocent

Thursday, Nov. 8, 2007

By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer

TAYLORSVILLE - A prominent Alexander County photographer and community volunteer said Wednesday that he's innocent of charges connecting him to a high-dollar prostitution ring in Charlotte.

Glenn Fox, a Taylorsville native, said he took photos of nude women but didn't know anything about the prostitution ring described in federal court documents.

"This whole thing has been a nightmare," he said Wednesday. "Turns out I got caught in a web, and I didn't know the web was there."

Federal authorities this week charged Fox, Sallie Saxon and Donald Saxon of Charlotte with coercing women across state lines to engage in prostitution at upscale hotels in the Tyvola Road and South Park area.

Fox was released on bond Monday, and the Saxons' bond hearing is scheduled for today.
According to court documents, Fox, 58, took nude photos of the women, which were used to advertise them to clients on a Web site, http://www.asouthernlook.com/.

Sallie Saxon, who also goes by Sallie Wamsley, paid Fox about $32,000 to take the pictures, according to the documents.

Some of those photos were also posted on another Web site - www.hushhush.com - which the documents referred to as "a very exclusive prostitution service, catering to affluent clients" that was run by Saxon.

Fox, who has no criminal record, declined to talk in detail about the charges. He said he was told the photographs would appear on www.asouthernlook.com, which bills itself as a site offering erotic photography and fine nude art. He said he didn't know anything about the site possibly being connected to a prostitution ring. He said he had never heard of www.hushhush.com before he was charged.

"Maybe I was being naive," he told the Observer.

Most of the photos he took for Saxon, whom he knew as Sandy Bradshaw before being charged, were taken at bed-and-breakfasts and expensive hotels in the Charlotte area, he said. He never met Sallie Saxon but was paid by Donald Saxon, whom he knew as Jim, he said.

Fox's attorney, Samuel Winthrop, also would not talk about details of the case, but said Fox would plead not guilty.

Fox opened his photo studio in Taylorsville, 64 miles northwest of Charlotte, 32 years ago and has become a prominent figure in the Alexander County community, said Cindy Wallace of Hiddenite, who said she has worked with him on several projects.

"You'd be amazed at the things he's done and the (committees) he's served on," she said.
Fox serves on the county's Chamber of Commerce board of directors, volunteers with United Way, plays the piano at community events and has sung in his church's choir, friends said.

Each year, Wallace said, Fox photographs the Greater Hickory Classic at Rock Barn Presented by Kia Motors, a golf tournament near Hickory, and donates his earnings to the United Way of Alexander County.

Fox said he has been photographing the annual charity event for four years and has donated about $20,000.

Denise Elder, the executive director at the Alexander Chamber of Commerce, would not talk about Fox in detail, but said he has been an active member of the chamber for 15 years.

In February, his studio, Glenn Fox Photo, was the chamber's business of the month, and his work, which includes wedding photography, portraits and model portfolio photos, has been featured in several national magazines, according to his Web site.

Wallace said Wednesday that she and others in the community knew that Fox was taking nude photographs and that he was honest about his work.

"Everything was always out there in the open," she said.

Lory Beth Huffman, pastor at the First United Methodist Church in Taylorsville, has known Fox and his family for nearly five years and said he has been active at the church, singing in the choir and teaching.

"I hope that the community will support him and not abandon him and his family during his time of need," she said.

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