Politicians from New York City are working towards making it a felony for people to ‘grind’ on subway trains. Police officers describe ‘grinding’ as the practice of bumping up against a woman on a crowded subway train to masturbate.
It was reported on Tuesday that Darnell Hardware, a chronic subway pervert, was not sentenced to jail time in a case where he reportedly ejaculated on three women in individual incidents. In March, the Court of Appeals ruled that Hardware could not be charged with a felony because the crime he committed was not a violent crime according to the law.
“Albany has to act,” Public Advocate Bill de Blasio said in a letter to lawmakers for the state this week. “It’s outrageous that we’re not acknowledging the extent of the problem and the fact that an offender at this point can get away with it so easily.”
Peter Vallone, a councilman for the city, said that the loophole in the law has to be closed. “The longer they wait, the longer our women are left at the mercy of these sexual deviants,” Vallone said.
Last year, a bill was created by state senator Bill Perkins that would charge these deviants with a felony if they have two prior convictions. The legislation passed in the Senate but was defeated in the Assembly.