A local Republican politician in Connecticut was arrested for allegedly pinching a female employee’s genitals, reports the Westport Daily Voice. Christopher von Keyserling, 71, was arrested Wednesday in Greenwich Town Hall and charged with fourth-degree sexual assault, a misdemeanor. He was released on a $2,500 bond and given a court date of Jan. 25. Von Keyserling has served on the Greenwich Representative Town Meeting board since 1985. The incident took place in December 2016 when the 57-year-old woman encountered von Keyserling in the hallway. After a brief political argument, the woman tried to walk away, when von Keyserling allegedly reached from behind to place his hand between her legs and pinched her in the groin.
Phil Russell, von Keyserling’s lawyer, told the Westport Daily Voice, however, that the charges were, in fact, the result of a “jocular” moment with a woman. “To be quite honest, what I’m having difficulty wrapping my head around is the fact that women seem to take these kind of jokes today too seriously,” he said. “In all fairness, I can certainly understand why the woman in question might have perceived the elements present for a lawsuit, but at the end of the day, she didn’t have to go through with it. Ask anyone – this sort of thing is happening throughout the country, and it’ll continue to happen especially if you consider the latest developments in our political system.”
Asked to elaborate on his rhetoric, Russell argued that the election of Donald Trump as the new President of the United States “proves such actions are, in fact, moral and legal.” “The situation would be so much different if Obama were still president, or alternatively, if Hillary Clinton had won,” he added. “But, this way, we’re talking about a completely legal, and what’s more important – morally acceptable form of behavior. At the end of the day, the President-elect himself was involved in a similar incident. And here’s the truth: such an incident could have very easily cost him the presidency – in fact, it almost did. But, since he won the election in spite of what many were referring to as a sexual assault, we have no choice but to assume that the people of America have spoken loud and clear.”
“So, not only was the behavior of my client not illegal – it was, by all accounts, desirable. Mr. Keyserling merely followed the same pattern of behavior as our President-elect, and if the president is doing it, then it must be right. The same logic can be applied when it comes to building walls, hating illegal immigrants and Muslims, as well as getting rich through whatever means necessary. Bottom line, we, as citizens of this great country are free – no, scratch that – legally obligated to follow the example of our president, whoever that may be. Many Americans accepted same-sex marriage, which is something they didn’t want to do, but did it anyway because Obama ordered SCOTUS to make such a ruling. It’s the same with grabbing women’s genitals today,” he concluded.