By Sharon Braithwaite | CNN
A court ruling in Italy that acquitted a school janitor of groping a student because the act lasted less than 10 seconds has caused outrage.
The judges of the fifth criminal section of the Court of Rome acquitted a 66-year-old man, identified by Italian state broadcaster RAI, of sexual assault on the grounds that the incident lasted “about five to ten seconds.”
The victim, who was 17 at the time, testified that the incident occurred in April 2022 while she was climbing the school stairs with a friend. She stated that she felt a hand touching her buttocks under her briefs, and the janitor, according to her testimony mentioned in the judgment, responded with the statement, “Love, you know I was joking.”
During the trial, the janitor admitted to touching the student but claimed it was intended as a “clumsy joke” without any sexual intent. The judges accepted this argument and concluded that the act was not a sexual assault.
The ruling has sparked outrage among students and prompted a viral trend on social media. The local union representing high school students, ‘Rete degli Studenti Medi del Lazio,’ expressed their disapproval on Facebook, stating that “this is not a joke, there is nothing funny about it.”
Italians have taken to Instagram and TikTok to share videos of themselves touching a sensitive part of their body for 10 seconds to demonstrate the discomfort and impact it can have on a person’s life. The hashtags #10secondi and #palpatabreve (brief groping) accompany these posts.
Actor Paolo Camilli, known for his role in “The White Lotus,” also joined the movement, posting a video on Instagram with the caption “shouldn’t the state protect us?”
The-CNN-Wire
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