Posted on 02/27/2006 2:43:06 PM PST by Hi Heels
Man sentenced for ride-by bottom slap Sun Feb 26, 8:28 AM ET
BOGOTA, Colombia, Feb 24 - A Colombian man has been sentenced to four years' house arrest for slapping a woman's bottom as he rode by her on his bicycle, sparking debate on whether the punishment fit the crime.
Showing re-enactments of the incident, television news shows were filled on Friday with legal experts offering opinions about the judgment handed down earlier in the week by Bogota's district court.
Some said that to confine bicycle messenger Victor Garcia to his home for four years for smacking Diana Marcela Diaz's buttocks was excessive. Others said it would deter other men.
One program showed three models having their denim clad bottoms smacked so hard by a phantom hand it could be clearly heard by television viewers.
The women said that while the punishment seemed extreme, they hoped the case would mean they would be safer while on foot.
"It happened to me once," one of the models said. "I was walking very relaxed and a guy rode by on his bicycle and, 'ta!' He smacked me. I took off my shoe to hit him with it but he was already too far away."
I am not your enemy, and I don't defend criminals. I also still think you are a fool.
"This is exactly the problem with this nonsense. You've just put his action -- ill-mannered, immature, in extremely poor taste and wrong -- in the same category as incest and child molestation. "
There are varying levels of seriousness in the category of sexual assault. What the colombian man did was not the most serious, but it was still sexual and assault, so therefore it was sexual assault.
"Unless there is more information than what was given in the story, this is not a slippery slope issue"
it is, because if he is not punished for this he will be emboldened to go farther.
A rapist doesnt usually start with a rape. They probably start small, with a backside slap or sexual assault. Better to nip the guy in the bud before he hurts even more women.
"I am a woman who has twice been a victim of sexual assault, and I can tell you, that ain't it, baby."
But your logic would encourage even more acts of sexual assault by not clapping down on the potential assailants before they do anything more serious.
If you crack down right at the beginning they will be taught that such behavior will not be tolerated.
Public humiliation would not do this, especially in a place like Colombia where such behavior is endemic, and not likely to be viewed by the machismo men as something to be ashamed of, which is a big part of the problem, as we've seen with a lot of men on this thread, who think some forms of sexual assault are OK.
regards,
Hill of Tara
I am not your enemy either, but I believe you are defending criminals, by justifying the backside-slapper's behavior. It is a crime, whether or not it is a SERIOUS crime, depends on the viewpoint, but it is clearly a crime.
Wouldnt you agree with that?
Nope. I think you are trivializing real sexual assault with your silliness.
And what would "real" sexual assault be in your book?
What the man did WAS real sexual assault in mine, and in the law books of almost every country.
Good day, my fair lady.
I don't condone boorish behavior, but this is typical "punish the small infractions" stuff while we and now other societies let the murderers and rapists off on technicalities and through infinite appeals. This is upside down justice from the Twilight Zone.
Let this guy pay the woman victim three hundred bucks a month for the next four years. He would feel that pain plenty by direct restitution. After four years in prison, he'll be a true psycho and might even be ready for rape, murder, and crimes we don't punish like the offenses against political correctness.
After completing his sentence he just might earn a free "license to kill" because liberals don't consider violent criminals as dangerous as those that commit petty crimes deemed offensive by the feminists.
Most women I know would have had plenty of creative ways to handle a jerk like this.
And if fanny-slapping is so endemic in the culture that public humiliation won't work, then I believe two things are true. First, the woman probably wasn't that traumatized by the incident, because, after all, it's just part of everyday life for women in her country. Second, the sentence was extremely unfair, because this man received an incredibly harsh sentence for something that every man sees as normal behavior.
Again, I do not approve of his behavior, but I do believe calling it sexual assault and grouping it in the same categories as rape, incest or child molestation trivializes those extremely serious crimes.
Heck, make it 18 years.
"Readers of this thread know who the nut is. "
and it is YOU.
Good day to you, my (un)-fair lady :)
With God as my witness, I'll never go hungry again.
Nam Vet
"First, the woman probably wasn't that traumatized by the incident, because, after all, it's just part of everyday life for women in her country. Second, the sentence was extremely unfair, because this man received an incredibly harsh sentence for something that every man sees as normal behavior."
1. How do you know how this PARTICULAR woman felt?
2. Obviously, not all men consider it normal behavior as we've seen from the sentence the guy got.
3. Just because some people consider some actions normal behavior doesnt make the actions right, or legal.
"but I do believe calling it sexual assault and grouping it in the same categories as rape, incest or child molestation trivializes those extremely serious crimes."
so in other words, we shouldnt consider battery a crime because it trivializes murder, or petty theft a crime because it trivializes grand larceny. A small crime or not, what the man did WAS a crime and he needed to be punished for it.
what did you mean by that?
Where in the world did you get that? I'm saying, very plainly, that Italians, expecially Romans, are famous for fanny pinching/patting. Perverts? Hardly!
You keep turning round and round with this. If most people don't see this as normal, then humiliation should work just fine! Or a lighter sentence -- 10 - 30 days in prison to be served on non-work days. Make him pay a fine. Take away his bike. Make him take sensitivity training classes!
I never said it was right or legal. I've consistently said his behavior was wrong. I don't believe some punishment is unreasonable -- but this sentence was extreme.
I think the punishment should fit the crime. The guy who walks off with the towels at the Holiday Inn is stealing, and I believe he should be punished, but I don't think he should have even close to the same punishment as the guy who robs the bank or the convenience store at gunpoint. I don't believe his towel-thieving will lead to armed robbery, even though it is wrong, and punishment and restitution are necessary.
You want for his sentence to prevent crimes that he might commit in the future, but you provide no evidence that he is likely to commit those crimes.
If you are selected for jury duty, you really should inform the defense counsel of your peculiar notions of justice.
Eh. Nothin. I'm tired.
I grabbed 20 rear ends as I walked down Bourbon Street one weeknight.
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