A case where fetishism goes to far. Should there be a medical/legal intervention here, or is it more of a nuisance problem only?
From http://www.lep.co.uk/weirdnews/Kinky-boots-fetishist-stalks-workmen.4048377.jp
Kinky boots fetishist stalks workmen
A former shop assistant harassed random workmen for three years in Britain's most bizarre stalking case.
For Martin Turner had a fascination for workmen wearing big boots, a court was told.
This resulted in him picking tradesmens' numbers at random from Yellow Pages and bombarding them with texts and calls.
Turner would ring the workmen and plead with them to come round and stand on parts of his body with their boots.
The 39-year-old, of Lord Street, Blackpool, Lancashire, pleaded guilty to four offences of harassment.
His victims were plumber, John Elrick, roofer, Ray Morris, gardener, Keith Urwin, and property developer, Peter Leonard.
The offences took place between September 2005 and April this year.
Prosecutor, Martine Connah, said all the workmen received numerous texts and calls from Turner of an inappropriate nature.
The messages included Turner asking the men what kind of boots they had on and requesting they stand on his fingers, face and genitals with their boots.
All the workers asked Turner to stop making the calls, but he carried on.
When interviewed Turner told police that some men he called, not the complainants, did visit him for what he called "fun".
Michael Ball, defending, said his client, who had no previous convictions, now realised his behaviour had been wrong and there would be no repetition of it.
Mr Ball added: "He has something of a thing for men who work in the construction industry and it seems work boots feature large in this fantasy. I understand it has something to do with domination.
"For many years he kept these thoughts in his own head. He then started contacting people at random, taking their numbers out of yellow pages.
"Unless any of these workmen were very sensitive souls, I do not think they would have been caused extreme upset. I would think they would find the calls laughable."
Magistrates bailed Turner for reports.
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23 comments:
The defendant should be able to control himself. Just because he likes people in work boots does not give him the right to harass people. I most definitely do not think people should get away with things like that without punishment because I am sure it truly is really annoying for this person being harassed. Not only are they being annoyed with inappropriate phone calls but I’m sure they also feel somewhat threatened. I know I would. I think that any sort of harassment, whatever the reason or however "harmless" it is thought to be, it is harassment nonetheless and in this case stalking and that is not okay.
Ashley G.
I completely agree with what Ashley said, it sounds funny but I would be freaking out if I had some weirdo calling my phone and saying those things to me. I would be afraid as to how far this person would go to achieve their fantasy, so I would be pretty scared. I would let him go off with one legal warning but if it happened again, then I would consider some medical intervention for this person because he should be able to control himself to some degree.
I believe that although the defendent's intention may have been harmless I agree that he did in fact harass these men. I believe that he should be held accountable for his actions and his behavior shouldn't go unpunished.
I do think that the he didnt mean any harm. But you also have to think about how those guys must have felt, being bothered while working. I dont think that he should be punished for his behavior. I think he should be warned and then if he tries to do something like that again, then handle the situation. I think if i was the guys being bothered and i felt threatened in any way then i would go to the police. It is harassment and stalking but it doesnt sound like the guys felt threaten.But it does come down to him being able to control his fetishes.
T.Elia
I feel that an intervention should take place in this case. Fetishes go too far when they disrupt the lives of others. It's fine and accepting that this man has a thing for work boots but for the past 3 years he has been calling and harassing men. If he really wanted to satisfy his fetish without harming others I'm sure he could have found something on Craig's List.
I really don't think the defendent meant to harm anybody or to scare them in any way. I think that if these men had asked him to stop calling and he didn't, then he is harassing them, and should be charged with harassment. It shouldn't have anything to do with his fetish. The phone calls may have been creepy, but if he didn't threaten these men, it shouldn't be relavent really. Bottom line, he should have left these men alone when they asked. If he is so preoccupied by his fetish that he can't live his daily life without seeking out men in workboots, then yes, he should get help.
This is a case when a person's fetish goes way too far. He is clearly harrassing the workmen. It's one thing if he asked once and then backed off after, but repeatedly contacting them should have legal ramifications. He claims that there are other people who did comply with his fetish, so why would he continually bother men who are obviously not interested. Even though the man seems completely harmless, he is still a major problem.
Harassment is anything that is unwanted and makes you feel uncomfortable. I definitely think that this needed to be addressed. It can definitely be seen as threatening and you certainly never know with people whether they are serious or not.
This is a pretty ridiculous situation. Certainly some sort of help should be given to this guy. After all he still is making harassing phone calls. If he cannot control himself and his fetish enough that he cannot help but call and creep out random people, then more steps should be taken to ensure he has learned a lesson. This could be given a number of ways, but I feel some help with this man should taken.
This sounds more like a harrasment case due to his fetish. I would be throughly annoyed at the constant phone calls and not to mention, if the calls came through on a cell the charges incurred for the people he is calling. Yes, I think this should be illegal because it seems to go beyond a harmless fetish because of the harrasing phone calls and text meggages.
VEronica Vaiciunas
We cannot say the men called would find this laughable. This double standard is not okay. If this man had called women and told them to stand on his genitals with high heels we would think he is a sick individual and we would fear for these women. In this case these workmen, however large and strong they are, are still potential victims and could steal feel threatened by these advances by this man. We should also be fearful that these men did not get so threatened that they did something to Martin Turner and cited the gay panic defense. The state should step in and try to get Mr. Turner help; because it is unlikely this fetish will simply go away and it is unfair to the public to allow him to harass and talk them.
-Robert S.
I feel that the defendant should be prosecuted for harassment. He was bothering these men for wearing work boots. I understand he has a fetish and to each his own but he started to bother other people. I agree, fetishes become a problem when they start to interfere with other peoples' lives. He most likely did not mean any harm by it because he thought he was just acting on his fantasy but c'mon couldnt he have searched online and found someone who has workboots and also has the same fetish.
I think this seems like many other stalking/harassment cases but for the fact is involved a fetish. We talked about obscene phone calls as a form of sexual deviance. It seems to me its more of an afterthought that it involved a fetish, this kind of behavior wouldn't be acceptable even if he was calling people and harassing them with talk about what is considered "normal" sexual behaviors.
Again, the U.K. never fails to disappoint. The stalking and harassment aspect of it is, obviously, intrusive and socially unacceptable behavior. Fetishes, for the most part, are harmless as long as there is no danger to self or others. Clearly here the fetish has crossed the line into an area that is harmful in some fashion to others.
-Rose B.
At first this bizarre behavior just seemed to be pretty harmless. However, when the defendant just decided to bombard these men with phonecalls and text messages knowing full well that they wanted nothing to do with him, that definately can qualify as harassment. It's interesting to see that apparently he has seen the light and now is dedicated to keep this behavior under wraps, but if it were that easy, wouldn't he have not participated in this kind of public behavior in the first place?
As funny and strange as this appears, this article shows the seriousness and extent of fethishism. With the increasing number of fetishes surfacing (through the internet, etc.), it is hard to keep up and really know what types of fetishes are out there. This poses as a danger to innocent victims such as these workers, who were really just doing their jobs. Hey, we never know, one day some stalker could come searching for Criminal Justice PhD professors cause they find them irresistable... Creaig you better watch out!
Christina D.
This is HILARIOUS!!!! I find it surprising that the defendant took it as far as to contact these workmen. Was there no fetish community that dealt with work boots? Did he even try to find these communities by looking online or in the personal ads. I think the defendant should be punished for his behavior because he realized what he was doing as wrong but yet he continued to do it; this is a clear case of harassment. I think he should have found an alternative source to satisfy his needs. I wonder how affected the victims are, if they found it funny or freaked out by some weirdo who wants them to step on them.
No matter how funny someone's fetish may seem, it becomes serious when you are inundated with unwanted text messages and calls (it is considered stalking and it is against the law). If this man wants to get off on field boots, he should just stick to keeping his fantasies on his head until he find a mutual companion who is willing to feed into his outlandish desires. If that doesn't work, seeking psychological help wouldn't hurt either.
I guess this guy really likes work boots. This is a case of a fetish being taken to the extreme. While I'm sure it's true that the men he contacted were not distraught in any way by what happened, he was in fact harassing them. This guy should definitely receive help because you never know how far a fetish can go, especially if he is already texting and calling random men and asking them to step on his genitals with work boots. B. Brown
While this fetish is strange and kind of funny, like some of the other posts have said, it crosses the line when it results in people being harrassed. He may not be able to control the fact that he has this fetish, but he should be able to restrain from stalking in the form of non-stop calling and texting. Therefore, he should receive some kind of penalty.
Even though this is wierd and extremely funny this is a serious crime. It is one thing to be obsessed with boots, but once you cross the line on harrassing people then its a problem. Why does he bother workman when there are other people out there that have the same fetish that he can comply with. I understand that he did not mean to harm these people but it is still harrassment and it is illegal.
Although I think this is def. a weird story and if anyone called me about that i would probably laugh unless they consistently kept calling. This reminds me a lot of exhibitionist, like its a crime but for the most part your not scared for your safety or extremely unsettled by it. I do believe this man was harassing these construction workers, what I don't get is why he would keep bothering people who aren't interested in his fantasy when i'm sure he could spend his efforts and time finding someone who is into, because i'm sure there are more, or at least people who are easily willing to engage in such activity
I would say there does not need to be medical intervention, but some type of legal intervention to stop the harassment. It was clear that his actions were not aimed at anyone specific, just workmen in general. The obscene phone calls and texts is obviously a problem, as this is harassment of a sexual nature. Things need to be taken under control so they don't have the opportunity to get out of hand.
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