Masturbating in public not an offence: Italian Supreme Court

In a surprising ruling, the Italian Supreme Court ruled that masturbating in public is not a crime, even if it is done with the clear aim of being seen by other members of the public.

The case involved a 69-year-old man who had been caught masturbating in Catania. He had earlier been convicted after he was seen 'taking out his penis’ and ‘practising autoeroticism’ in front of students at the University of Catania campus.



The local Prefect of Catania and the Court of Appeal had agreed that the man should be sentenced to three months in prison and fined €3,420. However, the Supreme Court judges decided that a recent government reform meant “the act is not included in the law as a crime”.

The ruling by the highest court has in effect eliminated the criminal aspects of sentencing for obscene acts in public places. However, the man identified only as Pietro L, will now go back to the Prefect of Catania to be sentenced again. The court held that the man must be given a fine between €5,000 and €30,000, with the exact figure to be determined by the local court.



In deciding the case, the Supreme Court judges noted the fact that the Italian parliament had passed a law last year decriminalising the offence of lurking in places frequented by girls in order to be seen masturbating.

There have been other such cases around the world, for example, that of a Swedish man caught masturbating on a beach on Stockholm. The man was acquitted of sexual assault on the basis his actions were not directed towards a specific person.

This article originally appeared on Independent

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