Legal Fallouts of A Trending Kissing Prank Video

Lawyer explains whether kissing a girl after dropping a water bottle is a smooth move or a crime.

A TikTok video showing a young man kissing a girl after dropping a water bottle has gone viral, but a TikTok lawyer has explained why this is a sexual battery, but not a smooth move.

The Smooth Crime

The video features a young man pretending to give a bottle of water to a girl. As she reaches out to take the bottle, he intentionally drops it, grabs her hand, pulls her towards him, and kisses her. 

Attorney Ugo Lord, a nationally recognized legal expert known for translating legal jargon into simple advice for everyday life, reacted to this video with a laugh and a stern warning: 

“Oh, okay! Slick! Well, now, you’re going to jail for sexual battery.” 

“This is not gonna end well.” Lord says, as the scene ends with the girl slapping the young man’s face.

Sexual Battery Defined

In understanding the legal implications of this scenario, we must first comprehend what constitutes sexual battery. According to the Penal Code § 243.4 PC, sexual battery is the act of touching another person’s intimate parts without their consent. 

The purpose of this touch could be for sexual arousal, gratification, or abuse. However, the truth is that actual sexual penetration or intercourse isn’t a key aspect of this offense. Within any sexual relationship, if there is no consent involved, this act will be considered as a case of sexual assault.

Plus, the proven key elements are that the defendant unlawfully restrained another person, touched their intimate parts of the victim’s body and did so against the victim’s will. 

The crime of “sexual battery” at the federal level is formally known as “aggravated sexual abuse” as defined under 18 U.S.C. 2241. In order to establish this offense, the prosecution must demonstrate that the defendant intentionally utilized force, threat, or fear to get another individual into performing a sexual act within the borders of the United States. 

How Does Sexual Battery Apply To The Kissing Prank?

Within this clip, the behavior of a young man can be considered to coincide with this crime. In particular, he dropped the bottle, grabbed the girl’s hand, pulled her towards, and kissed her, all without her consent. As a result, his actions can align with the mentioned elements of sexual battery.

And if it could be shown that the young man used a form of force or threat, or caused the girl to fear, then his actions could potentially be seen as aggravated sexual abuse.

Therefore, he could face serious legal consequences for his action, which was a crime, not a smooth move.

Conclusion

With such social networks becoming increasingly popular, the behavior we find entertaining may in fact go beyond a certain point.

What might appear as a harmless joke or a slick move could escalate quickly into a serious legal issue. The line between amusement and offense, between a smooth move and a crime, can be thin and blurry.  This is where we need to guide ourselves following and understanding the consequences of our actions.