Christian Group Seeks Probe Of Compuserve

A fundamentalist Christian group has demanded that the Justice Department open a criminal investigation of CompuServe, alleging that the on-line service has violated anti-smut provisions in a recently enacted telecommunications law.

The demand, made in an April 1 letter to Attorney General Janet Reno, is apparently the first complaint lodged under terms of the Communications Decency Act.

In the group’s letter to the Justice Department, it alleged CompuServe offers “pornography and other sexually oriented materials … to its users, including children.”