Man boobs are not sexy on any man and it seems that the Court of Appeal of the United Kingdom sitting in London agrees. The effect of the decision means that it is legal to not only look at moobs but to photograph and video them till your hearts content. Simply, moobs are not deemed in the legal sense to be "private parts" and are therefore not sexual in nature.
The reason this case was heard was that a gentleman by the name of Kevin Bassett was found guilty in a lower court of voyeurism for filming the moobs of a fella taking a shower after a swim. The filming took place at a public pool in the changing area where once someone has had a swim there are open air showering facilities made available to wash off the chlorine.
The charges were laid under the 2003 Sexual Offences Act and voyeurism requires that the breasts be exposed for the charge to be made out. The Court of Appeal made a distinction between the breasts of a woman and the moobs of men. Moobs are not deemed to be private parts.
Interestingly, this was not an open filming but rather a hidden camera (in a bag) and there were plenty of children about. Mr. Bassett is a middle-aged man. So, when the camera was spotted you can imagine that there was a heated exchange between Mr. Bassett and the other pool goers. However, part of the Bassett defense was that he was a homosexual man and not interested in filming the little children but only the adult men. In light of the charges brought against him the video must have borne that out and there must have only been images of adult men!
The Court of Appeal ultimately held that the lower court judge had erred in allowing the jury to consider that the images were ones of breasts in the manner intended under the 2003 legislation. The Court quashed the conviction.
So, any fellas out there with moobs -- you might want to keep your shirt on!
