After being convicted of ‘indecent assault’ for masturbating in public, the former Groningen mayor Koen Schuiling wants to appeal.
He claims he had his belt undone because of a different kind of relief — massaging his stomach due to severe abdominal pain, AD reports.
It’s not about the money
Schuiling received a fine of €250 for masturbating in public last March, but refused to pay it. He saw it as an admission of something he claims he didn’t do.
Since he resisted the fine, he had to go to court, where he was found guilty of ‘indecent assault’ and asked to pay the €250 again. 😬
More time in court
Unsurprisingly, the former mayor is unhappy with the ruling and has filed an appeal. He still claims that what the driver had seen was a lower stomach massage.
But it’s not just about the principle — Schuiling wants to continue working, and a criminal conviction could stand in the way.
READ MORE | Why driving in the Netherlands is stressful: My experience of living in the Netherlands
According to Schuiling’s lawyer, they are still not certain whether they will go through with the appeal. They just filed it within the allotted time to allow for revisions.
Chaos on the highway
The incident that landed Schuiling in court took place last March when a truck driver saw him masturbating on the A7.
A colleague advised the driver to report the former mayor, according to NU.nl.
As it turns out, this wasn’t the first time the police received reports about Schuiling — he had been seen without any pants on in a gas station parking lot a few months earlier.
Get more from DutchReview! Join our WhatsApp channel or Instagram broadcast to get the latest news straight to your pocket. ⚡️
Feature Image: De Balie/Wikimedia Commons/CC3.0
