hair fetish gets a guy 8 years behind bars

[korn469]

this gives a whole new meaning to the term "a hair raising experience"

though he obviously has problems, does he really deserve 8 years in jail?

http://www.msnbc.com/news/895803.asp?0dm=T215N

Hair-obsessed man gets 8 years in jail

‘Haircut Bandit’ sheared locks from women to fuel fetish


LOS ANGELES, April 4 — When police finally came to Michael Howard’s home, they discovered hair everywhere: a thin carpet of hair covering the floor, huge mounds on the bed and in the closet, plus photos of severed ponytails lined up as neatly as bodies in a morgue. The cops knew then that they had finally caught up with the notorious “Haircut Bandit.”

FOR THREE WEEKS in December of 2001, Howard cruised the streets of Los Angeles and Long Beach, casing bus stops and park benches for women with ultra-long tresses.
Before he was caught, Howard chopped hanks of hair or entire ponytails from the heads of nine victims, ages 12 to 45. Investigators began closing in on the bicycle repair shop owner on New Year’s Eve when a deputy sheriff saw him approach a woman at a bus stop and shear off her waist-length hair.
He escaped — dropping his scissors and his hair trophy — but police nabbed him the next day. On Thursday, Howard entered a surprise guilty plea and was sentenced to eight years in prison for his hair-razing rampage.

AROUSED BY CUTTING OF HAIR
His attorney, Deputy Public Defender Gregg Hayata, said Howard became fascinated with hair as a boy and that as an adult, the sound of scissors cutting hair sexually aroused him. But the lawyer said that lust never interfered with his leading a law-abiding life until Dec. 4, 2001, the first time he went into the street and attempted to shear a Rapunzel’s locks. His life had begun to spiral out of control after his father died and his business began to fail, Hayata said.
“I think the combination ... made him start experimenting with drugs, ... and he just lost control of it,” Hayata said.
Before his highly publicized foray into hair banditry, Howard was known as a cycling fanatic who had learned to fix and build custom bicycles as a youngster — a passion that led him to open a bike shop with a high school pal.
Howard, who was once married, owned a home in a suburb south of Los Angeles for about a decade before his arrest and was described by neighbors as quiet.
Family members said Howard underwent an extreme personality change in the weeks corresponding with his haircut spree that they attributed to cocaine addiction. Police also unearthed reports from friends that Howard had often paid women as much as $200 to let him cut their hair.

A ****GY HAIR STORY
A police search of Howard’s home turned up plenty of hirsute evidence. “There was hair everywhere — big piles of hair in the closet and all over the bed,” Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Laurie Trammell said.
Police confiscated more than 40 hair fetish videos depicting people getting haircuts. “There were naked women getting their hair cut, videos of (Howard) cutting women’s hair, some of a couple who had each cut each other’s hair and shaved each other’s heads,” Trammell said. “There was a Spanish game show where, if you answered the question wrong, they would cut your hair.”
They also seized photos of the apparently consensual bobbing of a woman’s long hair and of a row of about 15 neatly severed ponytails, Trammell said.
Because the case did not involve genital contact, prosecutors found themselves in a quandary over what charges to press against Howard. “Hair is property like anything else, and it was taken by force, so that’s robbery,” Trammell said. They added a child molestation charge “because one of the victims was 12, and it was done for a sexual purpose.”
Ted McIlvenna, president of the Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality in San Francisco, performed tests on Howard and was prepared to testify as an expert witness in his trial.

‘A FETISH IS A FOCUS’
“A fetish is a focus,” McIlvenna, who has cataloged 200 fetishes, said. “Things turn us on, and we establish a ritual or a pattern or a story. Some people don’t manage it well.”
He said hair fetishes, in which people use hair as a masturbatory tool or involve it in sexual fantasies, are fairly common and usually begin in childhood.
Howard’s harmless fantasy life spun out of control when he began experimenting with drugs, McIlvenna said.
“The No. 1 thing that causes people grief in managing their sexuality is alcohol and drugs,” he said. Still, he added he does not consider Howard dangerous.
“If we put everybody in jail who has a fetish, we wouldn’t have anyone running our government. So many people have them.”

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by korn469
though he obviously has problems, does he really deserve 8 years in jail?

For multiple accounts of assault? Probably.

[Felch]

That's ****ing odd.

[korn469]

For multiple accounts of assault? Probably.

i don't know, i KNOW he needs help but not prison time imo, but...

just imagine what he will have to tell the other inmates, now that is a followup story i'd like to read

[Jaguar]

I'd try to give him therapy and stuff. It's obviously a problem, but this isn't sexual abuse or anything. If he does it again, there won't be that much harm.

[Kirnwaffen]

I almost feel bad for the guy. Getting put in jail for eight years with a child molestation charge for cutting hair. Prisoners don't take to kindly to child molesters...

[Skanky Burns]

Strange bastard.

[Jules]

This reminds me of Michael Palin in the Monty Python barbershop sketch, except he had the opposite problem: he was terrified by hair.

"Can you imagine what it's like, cutting the same head for five years?!"

[Lorizael]

Oh this guy's obviously in full possession of his faculties...

Prison won't do anything. He'll still have the fetish and obsession when he gets out. Jail won't teach him not to do it, because there are other things on his mind.

Ah this tired liberal's gonna shut up. Bye bye.

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by korn469
i don't know, i KNOW he needs help but not prison time imo, but...

Why? Since when does having a fetish excuse you from the consequences of your actions?

[Willem]

Originally posted by DinoDoc

Why? Since when does having a fetish excuse you from the consequences of your actions?

But how much actual damage has he caused anyone? His victims weren't harmed in any way, and their hair will eventually grow back. It seems a bit drastic to me, I think charging him for something like public mischief, with a court order to seek help would have been more appropriate. A couple of years of jailtime I could understand, but 8 years is really pushing it under the circumstances IMO.

[Drogue]

Jail for cutting hair? I can understand the robbery charge, and even possibly assault, but there is no bodily harm done. As for child molestation, I really don't get that. He may have been doing it as a fetish, but I don't consider sutting someones hair to be sexual harassment, or anything of the sort. If this happened here I'm guessing he'd get a fine and have to go to some sort of counceling, but jail time for cutting hair? You don't get jail time for injuring someone in a bar fight (unless it's serious, ie weapons involved), and that's a lot more harmful IMHO.

[korn469]

Why? Since when does having a fetish excuse you from the consequences of your actions?

as others have mentioned above

1) According to the article nobody suffered any physical trauma except losing some locks of hair. The punishment doesn't fit the crime.

2) While they might have suffered some psychological trauma, him going to jail will not cure their trauma, and even if they are too afraid to walk outside, this will not give them closure...criminal charges doesn't help past victims in cases like this, civil penalties would help the victims far more.

3) Eight years in this case is more than what he would have got for manslaughter! Accidently killing somebody is far more traumatic to both the individuals and society than cutting some people's hair.

4) He is taking the place of a violent criminal in prison, and the state will be out between 100,000-175,000 dollars incarcerating this guy in those eight years.

5) He will emerge with prison with the exact same fetish, no new skills, and a criminal record which will stigmatize him and will likely lead to future criminal behavior.

6) An expert testified that he wasn't dangerous.

[Drogue]

Korn. I agree on all. What would be an appropriate crime. In Britain, assault does not necessarily mean jail time, and I would see this as a relatively minor assault. What do people think is fair for this? Is it even serious enough to be brought to court? (did the victims actually bring it, or was it just the prosecution service?)

[korn469]

Drogue

if i had solomon like powers, here's what i'd do

1) give him a couple of days in jail, like a day for each woman's hair he cut
2) enroll him in drug and alcohol rehab
3) give him mental help with his fetish
4) give him some community service
5) if any of the women could prove psychological damage resulting from the trauma, have him pay their medical bills
6) after all of that is completed, and if any of the women wanted it, make him give them an appology

[Sirotnikov]

hehe
nice fetish

i think he needs more psycho help than jail, like all people who can't control their sexual urges.

[Sirotnikov]

hehe
nice fetish

i think he needs more psycho help than jail, like all people who can't control their sexual urges.

[Sirotnikov]

i don't think he needs help for his fetish.

more like help for not controlling his urges.

people can have all kinds of fetishes or even none. we should only deal with the fact they force them onto other people.

just like you won't "cure" a rapist from wanting to have sex - only from not controlling himself.