He tugged at the underwear, then gently lifted her into the air.He admitted molesting her during the April 2022 incident but claimed it was a joke
Post Date – Friday, July 23 – 10:10pm
Rome: Italians have taken to social media to condemn a court ruling that a school janitor has been charged with sexual assault for molesting a 17-year-old student for only “about five/ten seconds”.
Court documents show that the teen said the man walked up behind her and put his hands under her panties when she pulled up her pants on the stairs at a high school in Rome. He tugged at the underwear, then gently lifted her into the air. He admitted molesting her during the April 2022 incident, but claimed it was a joke.
A court in Rome ruled last week that the obscenity was “only a few seconds” long, not sexual, and so brief that his argument that it was a joke was convincing even if it was “out of place”. “White Lotus” actor and comedian Paul Camille posted a video on TikTok this week of touching his breasts on camera as a timer counted down 10 seconds. “If it’s not sexual harassment, I don’t know what is,” he said.
The video has spawned copycats, with both men and women stroking the countdown clock’s boobs.
Other videos include a woman apologetically forgiving a man who grabbed her buttocks after the man claimed he touched her for less than 10 seconds and therefore committed no crime.
The case has been criticized by women’s rights groups.
“It’s harassment in every sense of the word,” said Elisa Ercoli, president of Differenza Donna. “The judge didn’t say it didn’t happen. He realized it violated the woman’s intimacy. We don’t understand that explanation.” Ercoli said the case was particularly serious because it happened on a school playground, “Adults should make girls and boys feel protected and safe.”
