ATLANTA -- Channel 2 cameras were there as the DeKalb Vice Squad made six new arrests as part of an investigation into public indecency within sight of nearby homes.

The owners of the Belvedere Theater have recently been accused of violating codes and allowing sexual activity.

Neighbors who live near the Belvedere Theater contacted Channel 2 earlier this year to recruit our help in documenting what goes on inside. And just as they suspected, our undercover camera found the sex wasn’t limited to the screen.

A Channel 2 photographer went inside the Belvedere Theater undercover and witnessed things better known for happening under the covers.

Lt. Gary Dickerson heads the Vice Squad for DeKalb County police. The X-rated movies playing on the two screens are the least of his concerns, he said. He said the sexual encounter between the three men that was caught on tape is not uncommon.

“Before it appeared to be oral sex, but now the second person is now completely undressed or appears to be,” said Dickerson. “What adults do at home behind closed doors is their business, but when you bring it out into public then it becomes everybody’s business.”

Sarah Helen Kilgore’s back yard faces the front of the theater. “Well, I think it’s a nuisance to the neighborhood and it brings in the wrong kind of traffic to the neighborhood,” she said.

Sarah Helen and her neighbor, Frank Burnette, have lived in the neighborhood for more than 50 years. They said they remembered when the Belvedere was family-friendly.

“When my kids were young, they went to it. Then when it closed, a church was in there for a while,” said Burnette.

But, for at least 20 years or so, it’s been an adult theater complete with free paper towels in the lobby. The neighbors signed petitions, called police and code enforcement citations have been tied up in court for years. The theater said it’s been grandfathered in as and therefore doesn’t have to adhere to DeKalb County’s adult business ordinance that prohibits an adult business from being within 1,000 feet of a residential area.

“It’s been going on so darn long, the grandfather, hell, I’ve turned grandfather myself watching it,” said Burnette.

Within hours, officers walked six men out of the theater for public indecency and Channel 2 cameras were there.

When Channel 2’s Jodie Fleischer asked one of the men what he was doing in the theater, he responded, “I was doing nothing.”

Not so said DeKalb County police and our own Channel 2 photographer who was propositioned several times within minutes.

“They can get real pushy. They'll sit behind you and go, ‘Hey want to get together?’” said photographer Rick Nelson.

On the day Channel 2 was there, the business owner was not charged with anything. But she has been arrested at least four other times for distributing obscene material and obstructing officers. Her attorney, Tammi Long, declined comment for this story but in February said, "The people in charge of the police and code enforcement need to stop persecuting my clients and recognize that they have a legal right to exist."

Neighbors said a cash business like the Belvedere leads to other crimes. Just last month, a gunman stole the owner’s purse in the parking lot and shot and killed her son as he tried to defend her.

“We're trying to change the face of that area and it's a challenge because it was one way for so long,” said Dickerson.

A challenge, neighbors said, they’ve been waiting for.

“It could be a start, if it gets around to enough people that it's dangerous to go in there, maybe it'll close it up,” said Burnette.

Within the coming months, a judge will decide whether the Belvedere Theater violates DeKalb County’s adult business ordinance. It does have a business license but if it isn’t grandfathered in, it can be shut down. The Vice Squad said it will continue its operations as well.