A RECENT RULING by a criminal court judge in Manhattan highlights a gap in the sexual assault law passed after several groping incidents during the 2000 Puerto Rican Day parade.
Judge Matthew F. Cooper Jr., held that in order for a charge of “forcible touching” to be upheld, prosecutors cannot rely on circumstantial evidence to establish a victim’s lack of consent, as they can for the charge of sexual abuse. Instead, they must prove forcible compulsion by the assailant or the victim’s incapacity to consent.
