Male stripper who 'jiggled the breasts' of soon-to-be bride found guilty of sexual assault
Warning: This article contains discussion of sexual assault, which some may find distressing.
A stripper has been convicted of sexual assault after courts determined he failed to gain consent from his client to perform 'simulated oral sex' on her and for him to 'touch her breasts'.
Stuart Kennedy, from Bridge of Don, Aberdeen, Scotland, has been placed on the Sex Offenders Register after he was found guilty of ‘jiggling’ a client’s breasts.
A 32-year-old bride-to-be told the trial that she was ‘shocked’ and felt forced to participate in the strip show, which took place during a ‘pizza and Prosecco’ party at the Crieff Hydro Hotel in Perthshire.
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Despite repeatedly declining her involvement, it’s understood that the woman eventually relented to the £400 event, which one of her sisters secretly organised.
"The door burst open and slammed hard against the opposite wall,” she recalled during the trial. “A man dressed in a firefighter's uniform came in. I decided I had to grin and bear it and go through it. It's not my preference, that kind of activity.
"I didn't think I was in danger, just that it would be unpleasant and not to my taste.”
The woman further claimed she’d ‘cried’ and ‘panicked’ in front of her 15 friends, and that she was ‘trying to communicate’ with Kennedy that she was not a ‘willing participant’, as per the Daily Record.
She told the Perth Sheriff Court that the costumed man, 42, 'forced his hands between her thighs', and that his ‘first move was to make [her] simulate giving him oral sex’.
"I started to comply with him because I didn't know what he was going to do next," she said. "He still had his trousers on. He had sewn a fake erection into the crotch. It felt like a bean bag. He was fiddling with the button on my shirt at one point. At my cleavage.
"There was more grinding against my thigh. I was trying to keep my legs together."
The woman said he’d then come up behind her to ‘grab both [her] breasts and jiggled them about’ - a claim Kennedy vehemently denied. He said his client’s breasts may have moved when he was performing a routine to Village People’s 'YMCA'.
Moreover, Kennedy denied repeatedly handling the woman's thighs and private parts, or attempting to kiss her, The Mirror reports. He further denied intentionally causing the same woman to participate in sexual activity by sitting on her, seizing her by the head, and restraining her.
He was supported by the woman’s younger sister, who told the police that she’d ‘enjoyed’ herself and that she didn’t ‘remember’ anything happening that you ‘wouldn't expect from a stripper at a hen party'.
Meanwhile, the woman’s middle sister said she had ‘buyer's regret’ hiring the man as she told the court: "He stood her up at one point and reached around and grabbed her boobs aggressively.
“I remember it took my breath away a wee bit, because I just didn't think that was right. It was not long after that she left, she ran out the room and locked herself in the bathroom.”
Kennedy was found guilty of two charges, with Sheriff Paul Reid telling Perth Sheriff Court that he was ‘satisfied’ that the assailant touched the solicitor's breasts, stating that the woman’s evidence was ‘clear and corroborated’.
"Witnesses spoke of being taken aback by what happened. There was the complainer's evidence of immediate distress that brought the whole show to an end,” he continued. “I do not accept that he could have had a reasonable belief that he had consent. It was clear she was deeply uncomfortable with the performance.
"Nothing could have given him the impression she consented to being touched in that manner. His activity towards the complainer from when she sat in the chair in the middle of the room was plainly sexual.”
Reid confirmed that the victim did not give Kennedy her ‘free agreement’ for him to touch her breasts, simulate oral sex, touch his fake penis, or drink out of a phallic-shaped straw.
"I am not satisfied he took any reasonable steps to ascertain consent was continuing throughout his performance,” he continued, calling the conviction a ‘narrow decision’.
The prosecutor said if Kennedy had obtained consent from his client, then ‘no crime would have been committed’.
Kennedy, who has been a ‘professional entertainer’ for almost two decades, claimed he’d ‘only ever had nothing but good reviews’ and that his firefighter act was a ‘beautiful gift’.
However, the court was informed that he’d previously been convicted of an identical offence whilst on the job, and when asked about it by the prosecution, he claimed: "It was widely reported. If anything, it boosted things."
Kennedy was warned that he could face jail time because of his previous conviction.
If you've been affected by any of the issues in this article, you can contact The National Sexual Assault Hotline on 800.656.HOPE (4673), available 24/7. Or you can chat online via online.rainn.org.
Ella Scott