Jake Gyllenhaal photo François Duhamel/Jarhead
Woman Charged With Groping Mall Santa:
'I Did Not Do Anything Wrong.'
Arrested several hours after she either did or did not sit on Santa's lap, and did or did not grab him in a very so-called naughty place, depending on whom you believe, a 33 year-old woman was charged with fourth-degree sexual assault.
NewsTimesSanta and the police tell a different story... when you can get them to say anything.
The woman accused of groping Santa at the Danbury Fair mall denies she even sat on the man's lap.
"I don't know what's going on. I don't know if he was confused, it was a false report," Sandrama Lamy, 33, said this morning.
Lamy said she was window shopping at the mall Saturday with a friend when she decided to get a picture with a man playing Santa Claus.
A woman -- apparently working with the mall Santa -- made a comment after the picture was snapped, Lamy said.
"I did not sit on his lap. A woman there said 'Be careful, that's my husband.' I said 'What does that have to do with the picture?'" Lamy said. "That's all I said, and I left."
"A couple of hours later," security officers stopped Lamy, who was still in the mall.
"Why would I do this? There were so many people there. If he (Santa) needed a few extra bucks I would have given it to him," Lamy said. "I've never been involved in a crime or anything. This is shocking to me."
NewsTimesEither they've got this on video or they don't.
Sandrama Lamy, 33, of Danbury, is charged with fourth-degree sexual assault, according to Danbury Detective Lt. Thomas Michael.
Two messages seeking comment were left on Lamy's answering machine.
Details leading up to the alleged fondling are sketchy.
"I don't know what the deal was. It was just bizarre," the mall Santa told a reporter, referring all other questions about the incident to Cherry Hill Photo, the company that runs the Danbury Fair mall Santa photo setup.
Cherry Hill Photo did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment.
According to information provided by the Danbury Police Department, officers were dispatched to the mall Saturday at 8:45 p.m.
The mall Santa told police that Lamy touched him inappropriately while sitting on his lap.
"The security officer at the mall said Santa Claus has been sexually assaulted," Michael said.
Lamy was also charged with breach of peace.
"She must have caused a commotion over there," Michael said.
Eyewitness testimony is the worst kind of testimony there is.
Juries in today's media-driven CSI and Law & Order world, expect a case laid out for them as if it's television. The mall ownership are fools if they don't have five or six cameras trained on Santa, up high, down low, in tight, so no matter what happens, they've got coverage.
If Santa's joint was grabbed -- given I read in comments at the NewsTimes he's a 65 year old man -- he absolutely should press charges if he wants to. That's a personal call and I'd never tell anyone what they should or shouldn't do. Me personally - probably not. But I'm not shy about telling people "No" and making it stick.
If this is a jealous wife forcing Santa to file charges about a misunderstanding of what she saw, then I hope Ms. Lamy ends up owning both half the mall and Mrs. Santa's retirement fund. Every time someone files charges or makes unfounded accusations they poison the environment for every legitimate claim for every woman and man struggling to decide if they dare trust the system to be fair with what happened to them.
I hate people who file false charges with a passion reserved for almost no one.
In the meantime, enjoy Jake as Santa from Jarhead.
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