@PLATTWORX:
Reading comprehension > you

The manager grabbed her and she was shocked about it right then and there. Her stepfather was taking pictures at the time and realized he caught the incident on camera. They didn't review the pictures and see that he grabbed her boob and then call the lawyer.

So... unwanted, unsolicited groping is okay, and should go unpunished?

@PLATTWORX: "He looked at her, reached out, grabbed her breast and moved along," said Mark Potashnick, Sorbello's attorney. "Her jaw dropped in shock and disgust."

If you read it more carefully it says she noticed, her stepfather didnt.

Its already been shown, in the case of the Disney character a while ago, that the characters can barely see out of those suits as it is. I highly doubt it was intentional.

I would think it would be pretty hard to tell if this was intentional. It might be hard to judge distances while inside the suit. A hand aimed at a shoulder could conceivably touch a breast. Having said that I knew plenty of friends when i was younger who would definitely do something like this if they had the chance.

when I was 15 something like this happened to me Chuck E. kept putting me on his lap, flirting w/ me and following me around...maybe they need to come up w/ a Mrs Cheese so chuck e. leaves us alone

Are we sure this isn't just a result of a guy wearing a huge costume with oversized hands and obstructed vision? I mean, have any of you ever worn a costume like that? It's not like he could have even FELT anything with those paws. Maybe he tried to pat her on the shoulder. If I sued every guy who accidently brushed up against my boobs I'd have a LOT of dough- and no one would be willing to come within 5 feet of me.

Now Chuck E Cheese, Disneyland, etc are going to have to enact a "don't touch women" policy. And I really dug being hugged by Spider-Man.

/Really, no one else thinks that it sounds like they found a picture that kind of looked incriminating and decided to make money on it?

They can barely see out of those suits, let alone feel anything through the awkward hard-to-move stuffed paws. They can reach for one thing, and the paw being six inches away from their natural hand, not realize the stuffed fabric part is touching six inches away from their hand.

For example, they can think they're reaching to pat someone on the shoulder, but the fabric paw the size of a small frying pan can cover the chest.

I'm not saying he didn't do it, I'm just saying it's quite possible it was an accident.

That is rather disturbing, but it reminds me of an incident at the circus. Traumatizing!

Seems like this is a criminal matter rather than a civil.

I hope she gets enough money to make her feel better. It should take at least one million to heal those deep emotional scars.

Clairvoyance! [www.penny-arcade.com]

Sounds like a BS claim to me. I've accidentally "groped" (and by that I mean accidentally touched) females' breasts before while giving a hug with out trying. I can only imagine how hard it would be to see what you're doing from within the giant head. I guess for me to be more persuaded I would need to know more about the alleged groping...

I can sort of understand the usual anti-consumer sentiment I see in some comments threads, blaming the OP, etc.

But victim-blaming when it comes to sexual assault? Come on guys. Police and judges do that enough already.

And just so everyone knows, sexual assault need not be intentional. And if "I was in a mouse suit" is a valid excuse (which, by the way, was never mentioned in the post or the story as the actual defense), then there's something wrong with both our justice system and our mascot-producing companies.

For a woman being groped, she sure looks happy. Of course, no one realized that she was groped until scrutinizing every detail of the picture...Sounds fishy. But I guess there could be a tort case for assault and battery. Assault is someone intending to touch you and battery is touching you without your permission. In any case, people like her lawyers give real lawyers a bad name. Just saying.

HIV 2 Elway: Most criminal matters also become civil matters.

That said... I'm with many others here. It is quite possible this was accidental.

How can you folks say this was unintentional?!?!? OMG. I mean, LOOK at the creepy smile on that rat! Those eyes are leering down her top, that mouth salivating to the point where those front teeth look like they're going to gnaw at her. The rat is even blushing - something I didn't know rodents could do!

It's time we regulate these so-called mascot rats. I also think there should be a stimulus package for rat sexual predator training - $100 million ought to get us started.

@VonGeist: He was just looking for her cheese.

So. This is the moment in question? The moment where she is laughing and obviously enjoying what looks to be an across the body hug from a person in a large headed and slightly scary costume? This picture just caused me emotional trauma...can I have a million dollars plz?

@TCama: If it was an accident then she's not a victim. Also, the intent of the accused is important, as sexual assault is defined as assaulting someone with the intent of receiving sexual gratification.

Heh nothing more traumatizing than getting fondled by some old dude in a rat costume *shudder*

@Aladdyn: Right the article was saying the stepfather didn't know he had a picture of the incident until he looked over what he took.

If that IS the photo of her and not a stock photo, then there is no way the rat is going to be charged with anything.

Her hand is practically putting his hand on top of her breast.

@The_IT_Crone: ". If I sued every guy who accidently brushed up against my boobs I'd have a LOT of dough- and no one would be willing to come within 5 feet of me."

But you can kinda tell when it was incidental and when it was on purpose. The grab and squeeze is usually a giveaway. :P If you ride public transit, you can generally tell when you've been bumped or brushed accidentally (or at least by a subtle perv) ... and when you've been groped on purpose.

A lot of you guys are assholes. Someone giving you a hug and accidently boob grazing you is a WHOLE fuck of a lot different than some masked creepy character reaching out, groping you and then moving on. If he did accidently do it while aiming for her shoulder or something, he should have apologized right then and there. And I doubt this was a brush, this sounds like he squeezed. That is an entirely different manner than a hug-boob-graze. I mean, seriously, I know sometimes everyone rushes to blame the OP but you don't do that when she's been sexually assualted. I don't care WHAT costume you're wearing at the time.

Eldritch, if the picture shown is the act in question, then we are right to question.

@Matt Lopez: Consumerist might want to clarify, but I don't think that the picture for the story is the picture mentioned in the story.

But what if the person in the Chuck E Cheese suit was an 18 year old girl?

@usa_gatekeeper: OOPS. Sorry - it was a guy.

Add me to the "cut a person inside a dark, danky, ill-fitting suit with no vision and absolutely no tactile feedback a break".
As a self-admitted perv, there'd be no thrill to this. At all. No motive.
OTOH, some 3/4 blinded guy going for a hug and accidentally grazing a breast? THAT I can see.

@Eldritch: A little boob-grab is hardly a sexual assault. Nor does it really warrant a lawsuit. If they truly believed it was intentional, speaking to the manager at the time of the incident would have been the appropriate course of action, so the manager could deal with the employee (and likely offer some sort of compensation then and there - free pizza and a bucket of tokens). If it was that big a deal, how did the stepfather not notice that he'd snapped a picture -right as it happened-? We need a lot more information than the article gives - it doesn't say whether it was a grab or a squeeze, but certainly if that picture up top is of the incident, she doesn't look traumatized or even a little bit upset.

You guys really need to make it clear that that photo is NOT the one in question. It looks like you've Googled for 'chuck e cheese accosting' or similar and nabbed a photo from [www.dulutheast86.com] without attribution.

(Thanks, TinEye)

@failurate: Yeah, that chick isn't 22.

@The_IT_Crone: Women grop me all the time. They just can't keep their paws off my attractive hindquarters! I should start suing too.

I'm all for stopping intentional harassment, but this is just accidental. He's just a friendly mouse trying to give you a hug.

Ya I think this pic does a disservice. From the little information it could really go either way but like a few people mention the suit they wear is pretty think so I'm doubting motive but he'd still be human. I'm really interested to see her claim of humiliation, if the circumstance was "omg Chuck just grabbed my boob" and a group of people laughed at her I think she might have a case.

No matter what happens, how much are you going to bet that they are going to make it a firing offense to 'touch' anyone while wearing any kind of character outfit? No more hugs or pats on the shoulder, sorry kiddies but he/she might be groping you not hugging you.

@TemporaryAphasia: A nonconsensual boob grab is sexual assault. Fact. Memorize it.

And that picture is obviously not the incident in question. The person in the picture is a child, not a 22 year old, and the picture looks like it was taken in the 70s or something.

@jennieguzman: Please don't say that it involved clowns. I HATE clowns.

@Dmitri Virnig: Yes, if perpetrated by a person in a large mouse suit. Which reminds me, I have to go to the dry cleaners.

@tankertodd: Gross. I like it.

Seriously though, is there any tactile sensation while in one of those suits? How could the person have seen let alone knew where to grab to cop a feel?

Don't they usually have another employee guiding them around because of the lack of vision?

@Jackie Stempin VanZyll: Did you file a lawsuit? :-)

@jimv2000: Agreed. I really really really don't think an anthropomorphic mouse with huge padded hands is going to get anything out of touching some boobs, let alone know what it is doing.

Am I the only one who wants to know what the hell she is wearing? That pic/clothes looks like it's from 1985 or something.

@TCama: Blaming the victim? A horrible thing to do.
But always assuming that the victim is, in fact, a "victim"? As bad, if not worse.
For all the people chastised for "blaming the victim", the reactionaries that believe any woman claiming rape is immediately correct are horrible, horrible people.
Guys are blasted as perverts and rapists and the first hint of sexual assault, but if proven innocent, everyone seems to conveniently forget! I haven't heard anyone apologize to the lacrosse team yet!
It is just as dangerous to assume a man is guilty as it is to assume a woman is lying or "asked for it".

@spanky: I don't get it, but perhaps the people that are super pissed off in the comments have experienced a groping by a rat? The small majority that is in favor of a lawsuit/criminal charges/who say it's the worst thing in the world to be touched by a character seem to be outweighed by the vast majority of sense here.

If I were Chuck E Cheese I'd counter sue this woman into the stone age for her idiocy.

@TCama:

"And just so everyone knows, sexual assault need not be intentional."

And attitudes like this are why men are afraid to approach women. That is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard in my life. If it's not intentional, then it's not assault, period.

Even prosecutors need to prove intent.

@spanky: Only if it's in a sexual context. Whatever you want to call it, claiming to be emotionally distressed and humiliated from a little boob-squeeze through a furry costume seems a big overreaction from an adult. And the girl in the picture doesn't look like a child to me. Teens to 20s.

@The_IT_Crone: As a very short, large breasted woman I have been accidentally fondled many a time, including some of the cupping/squeezing variety. There is a chance he was going for her shoulder and missed with his huge paws. I don't want to discredit the girl, I just need more info because I know accidents happen

Eh... for some reason this isn't letting me "reply" correctly.

As for the girl in the pic, she could easily be 22 years old. I was recently mistaken for being "15 and under" to get in free (and didn't WANT to get in free), and I turn 30 soon.