A JUDGE has sparked national outcry in Italy after clearing a school caretaker of sexually assaulting a student because it "lasted less than 10 seconds".
Antonio Avola, 66, put his hand down the trousers of a 17-year-old girl before touching her buttocks and pulling on her underwear.
The teen was walking up a staircase at a school in Rome with a friend when Avola groped her.
But after she turned around in horror, Avola told her: "Love, you know I was joking."
The youngster reported the incident, which happened in April 2022, to cops.
He admitted to touching the girl without her consent – but insisted it was a "joke".
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Italian prosecutors demanded Avola be handed a three-and-a-half-year sentence for sexual assault – but he was this week cleared.
A judge acquitted the caretaker after ruling groping under 10 seconds "does not constitute a crime", adding that Avola had performed an "awkward manoeuvre without lust".
The teen has blasted the judge's decision, saying decision "is not justice".
She told Corriere della Sera newspaper: "The judges ruled that he was joking? Well, it was no joke to me.
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"The caretaker came up from behind without saying anything. He put his hands down my trousers and inside my underwear.
"He groped my bottom. Then, he pulled me up – hurting my private parts. For me, this is not a joke. This is not how an old man should 'joke' with a teenager.
"That handful of seconds was more than enough for the caretaker to make me feel his hands on me."
The controversial ruling has since sparked a tirade of backlash on social media from outraged Italian women and men.
Many have shared videos of themselves touching their intimate parts in silence for 10 seconds in a bid to highlight how long the period of time can feel.
Among those to post such a clip include White Lotus actor Paolo Camilli, and the hashtag #10secondi has been trending on Instagram and TikTok.
Influencer Francesco Cicconetti wrote on TikTok: "Who decides that 10 seconds is not a long time? Who times the seconds, while you're being harassed?
"Men don't have the right to touch women's bodies, not even for a second – let alone 5 or 10."
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