Woman sentenced for squeezing police officer’s genitals

A woman in her 50s has been sentenced to two months in prison, suspended for two years, for interfering with public authority and sexually harassing a police officer, mbl.is reports.

The incident took place at the police station on Hverfisgata in Reykjavik in November 2023, when two officers were escorting the woman to a cell. She had been arrested for violating Reykjavik’s police regulations.

According to the District Court of Reykjavik, the woman was agitated and unruly, failed to follow instructions and made sexual remarks towards police officers. When one of her hands came free, she grabbed one officer’s genitals over his clothing and squeezed them. The officer experienced pain in his testicles afterwards.

The woman denied the offence and said she had little memory of the incident because she was intoxicated. She completely rejected having grabbed the officer and said such behaviour was unlike her.

No other officer saw the grab itself, but the victim reported it to colleagues immediately afterwards. Video recordings from the detention area showed the woman’s hand coming free and moving towards the officer’s genitals. Although the grab was not visible, another recording showed the officer moving away in a manner the court said was consistent with his account.

The court found the officer’s testimony credible and ruled that it had been proven beyond reasonable doubt that the woman had intentionally grabbed his genitals.

In determining the sentence, the court noted that nearly three years had passed since the incident. It said the delay was not the woman’s fault and described the handling of the case as objectionable. The court also noted that she did not appear to have reoffended.

In addition to the suspended sentence, the woman was ordered to pay nearly 698,000 Icelandic krona in legal defence costs.