You are incorrect. Sexual assault is defined by the victim, not the perpetrator.

If you are in the state of New York and you are performing pat downs on people - especially children under 17 - you are committing sexual assault.

If you are performing pat downs without the express consent of the gropee, you are committing sexual assault.

If you are arrested you will be placed on the sex offender registry.

Eyecue,

You've said that children are unaffected by pat downs. How do you know this? How do you know what happens after people leave your line? How do you know that isn't affecting them later in life. How about the teenagers? How do you know people won't replay that moment in their heads over and over? Simply saying it wasn't your intent is insufficent.

It seems your willing to acknoledge that some people feel violated. The TSA's action is causing this feeling. Isn't that enough reason to stop?

JBC78

"Properly done." That's one key point, isn't it? With your extensive LEO experience, you can do that, but you can't vouch for every one of the thousands of other TSA employees, can you?

An absolutely unprecedented cross-section of Americans are to be subjected to X-Rays and/or the enhanced search. It's probably the largest conscious irradiation of a population in human history.

The door is open for abuse, mistakes, incorrect assumptions, false as well as true accusations, and a growing outrage that is spilling up to the politicians - N.B. Secretary of State Clinton has now weighed in.

IMHO TSA has jumped the shark.

Whatever helps you to sleep at night, man.

What you're doing is scarring children for life.

Next time you travel through Denver, look for this man:

So you can do anything you want as long as your intent is good? Was putting the Japanese in internment camps during World War II just fine because the government had the good intent to protect its citizens? You can justify any action by saying the intention is good, but that doesn't make it so.

Florida law on sexual assault (can't speak for any other state) says nothing about the intent of the fondler. The only exception given in the law is for an examination done for a bona fide medical purpose.

All TSA screeners are essentially putting their entire future at risk by doing these gropes.

If just one case sticks that screener is on the sex offender list for the rest of their life. It will be very difficult to find a job. It will very difficult to find a place to live.

I actually feel sorry for the poor groper in that picture that has been flashed for the past few days - that guy is going to be stigmatized for the rest of his life.

Haven't checked the laws of any other state, but this is absolutely NOT the case in California.

See this thread or this post in particular, if you don't feel like looking it up yourself.

In order to prosecute, you have to be able to show lewd intent.

Four years ago, my then 11 year old son was selected for a pat down while traveling with his younger brother and my wife. As my wife describes it, as she complained the first response was DY...? and with further complaints the pat down became more thorough (granted - her description, I wasn't there). The TSA clerk then asked my son where the bomb in his backpack was.

My son didn't cry or say anything then - no, he saved the crying for the plane - and then was withdrawn during the trip (his words later to me - "why did they do that to me? why did they think I was a terrorist?"). The younger boy was also upset because he didn't want to be taken away. Now, both have been reluctant to fly (because of TSA checkpoints) and told me this weekend that they will NOT fly if it means the TSA touches them or sees them naked. I'm not claiming my kids were psychologically damaged for life by the TSA, but an event four years ago had an impact. - they both remember the event vividly.

My points in bringing up this old story? 1) A child not crying or speaking up doesn't mean there isn't damage - and not all potential damage is sexual 2) Parents can speak up but see their child pay the price (we know now we should have escalated) 3) I'm sure someone could tell me that this wasn't SOP or was an isolated incident - but when there are humans involved (who may or may not be qualified) there are always exceptions and 4) With enhanced pat downs this gets worse.

Apparently the highly educated understanding TSA employees know better.

What with 40 hours of classroom training and 60 hours of OJT (ref a) for initial TSA training I'm sure TSA is awarding degrees in psychology.

ref a: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d05457.pdf

page 14 & 15

Your profile says you�ve got status with UA, AA and Hilton. Write to all three with this story and make sure they know how this will hit them.

Slumped in her wheelchair, Amelia looked my way and shrugged. It was happening. Again.

In the Transportation Security Administration checkpoint at the Reno-Tahoe International Airport recently, my 14-year-old was once more being patted down by uniformed strangers wearing rubber gloves.

Nearby, a line of adults streamed by, shoes and belts in hand, hustling to their flights.

She's an amazing young person, my kid. Amelia has survived brain and spinal cancer, debilitating nerve pain, and the challenging transition into life with a wheelchair.

She's my hero, and it makes my heart ache to see her humiliated by TSA workers who I am sure are only following orders.

http://www.lvrj.com/news/somehow-pat...109629939.html

I have tried to write an appropriate response for the past 10 minutes and keep deleting.

I'll just say this: You are touching the penis/scrotum/vulva/labia of human beings. Children *do* have a sense of sexuality - anyone who took a high school psychology, or who has been a parent, or who has been an older sibling to a much-younger sibling knows this. So does any childhood sexual abuse survivor.

You may be *grooming* a generation of children who fly to become easy victims for pedophiles. If we teach children that it's "no big deal" to have their genitals touched by strangers, we're creating a perfect storm for a massive cultural shift that defines being a "good citizen" as being someone who lets anyone in authority transcend physical integrity "because they said so."

So TSA jobs become a massive employment training program for NAMBLA members. It's like something out of an article in The Onion or a skit on SNL. But it's not. It's *federal policy*.

YOU may not think of yourself as a wingman for a pedophile, but you are. Your attitude makes me ill.

I've said before, right now they are operating above and beyond the law with impunity...but that can only go on for so long, eventually it will catch up with them