The Public Ministry of the State of Rio de Janeiro (MPRJ), through the Temporary Sports Thematic Group, denounced for sexual harassment the fan who caressed and kissed the face of a reporter, without her authorization, during a live TV broadcast. The case took place on September 7 in the vicinity of Maracanã, in Rio de Janeiro, before the game Flamengo and Velez for Libertadores.
The complaint offered by the prosecutor Glícia Pessanha Carvalho Viana reports that the journalist was preparing to enter a television broadcast, when Marcelo Benevides started screaming and cursing.
According to the complaint, the victim asked the accused to calm down. The fan then approached her, apologized, put his hand on her shoulder, slid it up to her arm and kissed the victim’s shoulder, who dodged. Then, she started a live report and, while talking to the presenter of the program, the accused kissed her again, now on her face, against her will.
In the aftermath of the episode, Benevides tried to flee, but was overtaken by the cameraman and camera assistant, who detained him until the police arrived. The accused will answer for the crime of sexual harassment, article 215-A of the Penal Code.
Benevides was detained for one day and is provisionally released, as the Court of Justice of the State of Rio de Janeiro (TJ-RJ) converted his arrest into preventive custody, after a custody hearing was held.
“I just wanted to work”, says reporter
Jessica used her Instagram account to speak out about what happened. “I suffered sexual harassment while working and that is a crime. I didn’t want a kiss, I didn’t want affection, I didn’t want to spend 3 hours in a police station. I just wanted to work,” she lamented.
The journalist said that before her entry, fans cursed for the delay of the live. Just before the broadcast began, “the ‘apologies’ came with smoothing on the shoulders and a kiss on the spot”.
The final act was the kiss on the cheek, caught on camera.
“The human being who did this was with an underage son who apologized for his father. The boy is not to blame, don’t punish his family. I appreciate all the support and love from my bosses, colleagues, fans, viewers and listeners at @espnbrasil and @lbvbrasil . Special thanks to @bandeira2000 and @andrelzdsouza, my team on the agenda”, he wrote.
It configures sexual harassment “to practice against someone and without their consent a lewd act to satisfy one’s own lasciviousness or that of a third party”. The crime was inserted into the Penal Code in 2018.
The practice differs from harassment, as the lawyer explains: “Sexual harassment and harassment are different crimes, despite being crimes against sexual freedom. While in harassment we have the practice of a libidinous act against the victim, in harassment what characterizes the crime is the constraint of the victim with the purpose of obtaining sexual advantage or favor, always exercised by his hierarchical superior, someone with a position of ascendancy”.
In Gomes’ assessment, the images are sufficient to prove that there was “an act with a sexual connotation without the consent of the reporter, who was working and clearly felt harassed and attacked”.
The penalty provided for the crime of sexual harassment is from 1 to 5 years in prison, but it is possible that, at the end of the investigations, the Public Prosecutor’s Office will offer an agreement that replaces imprisonment.
In a statement, the Disney Group, which owns ESPN, said that “it rebukes any type of violence, whether physical or verbal, and we are providing all the support to the professional and taking the necessary measures so that intolerant attitudes, such as this, do not go unpunished. . We remain at the disposal of the authorities for any type of clarification”.
THE CNN still seeks contact with the lawyers of Marcelo Benevides Silva.
Source: CNN Brasil
