A judge in Washington state cited President Donald Trump's "pussy grabbing" statement in a decision on the assault of a 15-year-old girl.
According to newspaper The Inlander, Spokane Judge James Triplet looked into the case of an assault of a teen whose crotch was grabbed by a 17-year-old boy.
"Our president openly brags that he can grab women by the pussy — his words — whenever he wants to, because that's what people who are powerful and rich get to do," Triplet said last month.
A look back at Trump's comments:
Before the 2016 election, a leak video contained audio of Trump and then-“Access Hollywood” host Billy Bush having a lewd conversation regarding women.
"When you’re a star, they let you do it,” Trump told Billy Bush in the video. “You can do anything.”
“Grab them by the p----,” Trump said. “You can do anything.”
The judge found the 17-year-old guilty of an assault in grabbing the girl. However, he absolved the teen of sexual motivation attached to the crime – due to lack of evidence and the way pop culture icons grab at their crotch.
"The bottom line is that there are so many things in our society and culture that are done that cross the line regarding appropriate behavior," Triplet said. "Yet our society allows that risqué and sexually explicit behavior to be modeled to our children, who are developing physically, emotionally, and with respect to their maturity. They often watch these public figures to determine what's hip, what's okay, or what's acceptable."
Writer Mitch Ryals of The Inlander notes that an assault involving genitals doesn't automatically mean the assault was sexually motivated under Washington state law.
Triplet lectured the teenage boy after the victim left the courtroom about how his behavior was unacceptable.
“Sexual offense would follow you around for life,” he told the boy. “So if you're ever back in court in front of this — with this type of a matter again, I'm not certain you're going to avoid responsibility, but just make sure you always treat people with respect.”
The boy received six months of community custody and 25 hours of community service.
Cox Media Group
