After a 69-year-old Sicilian man was arrested for masturbating in front of a group of students at the University of Catania – as you do – and sentenced to three months in prison, Italy’s highest court has ruled that masturbation in public places is no longer criminal. Now anyone, anywhere can whip it out and have a tug – as long it’s not in the presence or view of minors.
Says CNN:
The defendant’s lawyer appealed the case to the country’s highest court, which ruled on the side of the accused in June but only just made its decision public. Judges ruled that public masturbation out of the presence of minors is no longer deemed criminal conduct due to a change in the law last year, which decriminalized the act.
The new iteration of the criminal code does call for imprisonment—of up to four-and-a-half years—if the act is witnessed by a minor.
BRB– booking a “sightseeing” tour of Italy right now…