Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Well, this is grand. A 61-year-old man in Oregon who admitted he crouched down in an aisle in Target to take photos up a 13-year-old girl's skirt was more or less called a dirty old man by a judge, but was also set free that day without so much as a slap on the wrist. Why? Because the judge determined what he did was not illegal.
Patrick Buono reportedly confessed to taking crazy, sick, humilating photos of the young girl, who was wearing a skirt and panties. But here's the deal: a judge determined that he hadn't violated privacy laws because he took those creepy photos of her out in the open in a Target aisle and not while she was changing in a dressing room or in the restroom. His lawyer actually reportedly cited that iconic photo of Marilyn Monroe standing over a grate and having her skirt blow up as an example of how these things can just happen.
Because a little girl shopping at Target has a lot in common with a mature sex symbol who was probably offered 30 movie roles the day that photo traveled to the moon and back.
To break the privacy law, nudity has to also be involved, and since the girl had underwear on—because, lest we forget, she WAS 13—Buono wasn't found guilty of invading her privacy.
Maybe you're thinking, well, surely he should have been punished for encouraging child sexual abuse. But no, because, as Buono's attorney argued, she was wearing underwear and wasn't engaging in a sexual act. So, obviously, this creep was just collecting photographic evidence of a little girl's undergarments for the greater good of some anthropological experiment he was conducting.
Bottom line: the law failed this child. And it's pretty clear that it will fail any child or woman who is the victim of this kind of disgusting perversion in the state of Oregon.
Do you think this man should have been convicted and given a consequence for his behavior or do you believe this should be legal?
Image via Chris Potter/Flickr
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
