Elderly Man Convicted Of Sexual Harassment For Trying To Kiss Woman’s Hand At Floriana Każin
A 76-year-old man from Rabat has been found guilty of sexually harassing a woman after he tried to kiss a woman’s hand at a Floriana każin.
Roger Galea was charged with sexual harassment after the woman, a Spanish tourist, reported him to the police in October 2021.
She testified in court that she had entered the bar with her boyfriend and went to the bathroom after ordering a coffee. As she was walking out of the bathroom, the man blocked her exit, grabbed her hand and tried to kiss it.
She told him to leave her alone and testified in court that she felt scared by his behaviour.
Magistrate Elaine Mercieca initially acquitted the man in April 2022, ruling that while his behaviour was clearly intimidating, degrading and offensive to the woman, Malta’s harassment laws required the action to take place over a period of time and not in an isolated incident.
However, the Attorney General appealed this decision and Judge Edwina Grima today decided to punish the man with a six-month prison sentence suspended for two years.
In her ruling, Grima noted that the law has changed, allowing people to be found guilty of sexual harassment for isolated incidents.
Besides a suspended sentence, the man was given a restraining order and instructed not to approach the woman for the next 12 months.
What do you make of this ruling?
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