UGLY PICTURE
New York artist hit in Texas sex-grab case
A New York art world superstar is charged with grabbing a woman’s breast in the Texas town of Marfa – and his trial is looming amid a movement to overhaul sex assault laws in the Lone Star State.
Jeff Elrod, an abstract artist repped by Vito Schnabel who worked for years in Brooklyn and sells his pieces for six figures, is accused of attacking a friend on Aug. 24, according to a police report obtained by the Daily News.
The pair first ate dinner together at an upscale restaurant in the famed high-desert hub for avant-garde artists. Then they had a drink at the bar and were leaving through an alley when Elrod allegedly blurted out, “I have to kiss your breasts,” the paperwork says.
The woman, whose name is being withheld by The News, told police Elrod stepped in front of her and “grabbed her breast.”
“He then pulled her breast out of her bra and shirt and put his mouth on her breast,” the police report based on the victim’s allegations states.
“Then he shoved her breast back into her bra and shirt,” the report says.
The victim told police she was stunned.
“It all happened so fast I went into a weird shock, like I went into a form of auto pilot, and I kept walking,” the victim said, according to the report.
She said they walked into Elrod’s nearby studio where the artist “began trying to touch her leg” before she got over her “feeling of shock” and walked out.
The woman told police she waited until Oct. 22 to file her report because “she feared retaliation.”
Elrod was charged with a simple assault on Nov. 14. The non-arrestable offense, which carries no jail time was the highest he could face under current Texas law.
If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of a $500 fine.
His lawyer highlighted the low-level charge in a short statement to The News.
“The Class C misdemeanor ‘offense’ alleged is the Texas equivalent of a speeding ticket. We believe this is nothing short of an extortion attempt by the claimant,” said attorney Liz Rogers.
Elrod’s accuser says that couldn’t be farther from the truth. “I’ve signed a legal statement relinquishing my rights to pursue civil action following the trial and that financial gain is of no interest to me in this matter,” the alleged victim told The News.
At the moment, Texas law does not consider forcible groping of someone’s breasts or genitals a sexual assault.
New bipartisan legislation that unanimously passed the Texas House on Wednesday seeks to change that. It would create a new criminal offense for “indecent assault.”
The bill, which unanimously passed the Texas Senate in March, would make touching someone’s breasts, anus or genitals without consent to “arouse or gratify” a sexual desire a Class A misdemeanor.
It would also make it a crime to expose or attempt to expose another person’s genitals, buttocks or woman’s nipples without consent.
Convictions under the new law would get up to a year in jail.
The bill goes back to the Senate for one more procedural vote before it heads to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk for signature.
“Groping and a speeding ticket should not carry the same criminal penalty. Victims should know that the law stands behind them, and perpetrators should know that they could face jail time if they commit this terrible crime,” Texas Sen. Charles Perry, the bill’s primary sponsor, told The News.
“I am proud of the victims who came forward to support this bill, and I hope the stronger penalty sends a clear message we are not going to tolerate these assaults as a state,” he said.
Elrod was supposed to go to to trial Tuesday, but Marfa’s city attorney recused herself, and the new prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Sandy Stewart, had a conflict with a jury trial, a court clerk explained.
A trial is now expected to take place in late summer, the clerk said. The new bill, if signed, would only apply to future cases, so Elrod’s charge would not be affected.