WHEW. That was close. I almost had to dust off poor old Virtus.

You know her. The babe on the Virginia state seal. The one in the toga with the bare bosom. You can even see her nipple. The state strumpet brazenly shows her business on the Virginia flag, just above the state motto: "Sic Semper Tyrannis."

That's Latin for "Don't Wear This in Virginia Beach."

Is there anyone who doesn't know what we're talking about?

Last weekend, a Beach police officer at Lynnhaven Mall gave Abercrombie & Fitch thousands - maybe millions - of dollars worth of publicity by seizing two sexy posters and slapping an obscenity charge on the hapless store manager.

The offending posters were those arty black-and-white photos for which the clothing chain is famous. One showed shirtless males, one flashing a little bit of buttocks. The other featured a female showing not quite as much as Virtus.

Abercrombie & Fitch got free advertising. Virginia Beach got a free kick in the derriere.

By Monday afternoon, after police brass learned that the obscenity story was burning up the news and the blogosphere, Beach officials acted - b ut not before readers of The Drudge Report were exposed to the lunacy and the story was one of the most popular on Yahoo.

It was decided that the obscenity charge should be dropped and the posters returned.

One detail remains. Even after the matter is dismissed by the court, an innocent store manager will have an obscenity offense on his record.

"We would take the lead in getting the courts to expunge that," Deputy police Chief Jim Cervera assured me.

Officials did the right thing in mopping up this mess. But it raises questions about the procedure. Seems to me, cops ought to consult the city or commonwealth's attorney before lodging obscenity charges against a business.

That didn't happen, Cervera said.

According to news reports, an officer had asked the store manager to remove the posters last week. When he didn't comply, the place was raided.

One question: Since when are police in charge of mall decorations?

Every cop should know it's devilishly hard to make obscenity charges stick. There's that pesky matter of the First Amendment. Unless materials show private parts, it's almost impossible to get a conviction. These photographs aren't even close.

News of the incident hit the wires on Sunday and spread across the Internet. For two days, the Resort City looked like it was run by a pack of provincial prudes.

No surprise, then, that when I reached Abercrombie & Fitch spokesman Tom Lennox in Ohio, he sounded upbeat.

Why not? He'd been swamped with calls from news outlets all over the country.

"I think they're beautiful images," Lennox said of the photos. "The Abercrombie & Fitch brand is a bit provocative and sexy, with a sense of humor."

The chain has 363 stores, he said. No manager has ever been charged with obscenity.

Were Abercrombie & Fitch honchos upset?

"No, not at all," Lennox said with a laugh.

They were all ready to lawyer up and head to Virginia Beach. If the case went to court, taxpayers would've been on the hook for this obscenity.

Kerry Dougherty, (757) 446-2306, kerry.dougherty@cox.net