A school guard who touched the buttocks of a 17-year-old student has been acquitted by the Rome court. This court decision sparked outrage on Thursday, July 13, from student associations and influencers. According to the court, these touches having lasted “between five and ten seconds”, as denounced by the victim and recognized by the author, “do not constitute an offense”.
The “suddenness of the action, without any insistence in the action of touching”, which is “almost a touch”, does not allow “to characterize the libidinous or lustful intention generally required by the criminal law”, has estimated the court, quoted by the daily Il Corriere della Sera.
The court therefore rejected the requisitions of the prosecution, who had requested three and a half years of imprisonment against the guard, aged 66, who had admitted to having touched the student while she was climbing stairs but assured to have done so ” jokingly “.
For the victim, “it’s not a joke”, she reacts to the Italian daily. “The guard grabbed me from behind without saying anything. He then put his hands in my pants and under my underwear, touched my buttocks and then pulled me up so much that my private parts hurt,” she said. reported.
Social media support
This court decision sparked protests from the Association of Students in Lazio, the region of Rome: “We are outraged by the motivation of the judgment. (…) Once again, touching is not recognized as such, this time because of its duration, ”proclaimed its president Tullia Narciso, quoted by the daily Il Fatto quotidiano. “We want to feel safe everywhere, and especially at school, which should learn to recognize and eliminate violence and discrimination,” she concluded.
After this controversial judgment, many students posted videos on social networks where they filmed touching their bodies by simulating a touch for ten seconds, which seemed to last an eternity.
This gesture of solidarity with the victim was also taken up by the Italian actor Paolo Camilli, known for his role in the series The White Lotus and whose video was shared by the most famous influencer of the Peninsula, Chiara Ferragni.