Virginia library website leads to adult sex toy shop

It wasn’t the catalogue anyone expected.

A Hampton, Virginia library experienced a real plot twist Tuesday when its patrons were directed to an adult sex shop instead of the library’s website, 10 On Your Side WAVY reported.

“I thought maybe I put in the wrong address so I double-checked, triple-checked and it was still sending me to the same page and it had explicit content,” Hampton resident Heather Young told the outlet.

“I have five kids and I could just imagine if they had seen it instead of their mom.”

The Hampton Adult Toy Store bills itself as “the premiere destination for your adult toy needs,” according to its site.

“We got a wide variety of toys to choose from — starter accessories like vibrators, pocket p—ies, dildos are most common and they’re all of good quality.”

In addition, there were articles about how sex dolls can help marriages and setting them up for “acrobatic sex positions.”

But in another turn, it appears that the sex shop might not even exist, Vice reported.

Vice pointed out that there are no shops in and around Hampton with the name Hampton Adult Toy Store, but noted that it has a Facebook page, which was last updated in December 2021.

The city said that it learned about the website misdirection from WAVY.

“It’s embarrassing! This is not something the city of Hampton ever wanted to do,” Robin McCormick, Hampton communications strategist, told the outlet.

According to the city, the library converted to a new web address but when users typed in the old URL it automatically sent the user to the other site.

“We learned today from a WAVY reporter that the old web address now goes to a retail site that you don’t want your kids to see — and may not want to see yourself,” the city’s Facebook post says. “Our research so far shows that someone impersonated a city employee, contacted our domain registration company, and transferred the old URL. We were never notified.”

The post continued: “Bring your library card to any Hampton branch library, and they will put a sticker on it with the correct website. (Also maybe take possession of your kids’ cards until you can do that, as this story is making headlines and kids are curious.) Hampton apologizes for this, but please know we were also duped or hacked. No one connected with the city had anything to do with this.”

The Post reached out to the library for comment.