The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Stripper guilty of sex assaults
An Aberdeen stripper has been placed on the sex offenders register after being found guilty of sexually assaulting two women during a hen party performance.
Stuart Kennedy, who also goes by the stage name Sergeant Eros, sat on one woman’s lap and repeatedly tried to embrace her, and rubbed his body against a second.
The 40-year-old, who was described as “dismissive and arrogant” by fiscal depute Andrew McMann, did so despite the women’s “clear verbal and physical objections”.
Kennedy, who backed one of his victims into a corner, had denied the charges against him but was convicted following a trial at Aberdeen Sheriff Court.
Despite now being a registered sex offender, Kennedy’s solicitor and social workers allowed him to leave the court via a side exit and flee – avoiding The Press and Journal’s cameras.
Kennedy, of Don Street, Aberdeen, was found guilty of two charges of sexual assault at The Cellar on Rosemount Viaduct in May 2022.
It comes after Kennedy had previously been arrested dozens of times for alleged offences linked to his performances, including allegedly impersonating a police officer.
He has also been accused of possession of an offensive weapon – his truncheon and a fake CS spray – and for allegedly fitting a flashing light to his car.
Sentencing Kennedy, Sheriff Andrew Miller emphasised that the law states “that no one should be subjected to unwanted sexual activity” and that this applied just as much to a strip performance.
He told Kennedy: “On the evening of May 14 2022 you performed as a stripper at a social function, in the course of a business which you have operated for a number of years, having been booked to give that performance by the organiser of the function.
“In the course of your performance, you had physical contact of a sexual nature with two women who had attended the function, without their consent, in circumstances which amounted to the crime of sexual assault.
“It was clear to me from the evidence led at trial that both of the complainers made it clear prior to you approaching and having physical contact with them in the course of your performance, that they did not want to have any such contact with you and that they did not wish to be involved in your performance.”
Sheriff Miller ordered Kennedy to be supervised for 12 months and made him subject to the notification requirements of the Sexual Offences Act for the same period.