Oz man who kissed wife's bottom avoids jail

Melbourne, Jan 25 (ANI): An Aussie man has avoided a prison term after he drunkenly kissed his estranged wife on the bottom.

The 48-year-old ex-social worker was sentenced in the Hobart Magistrates Court, reports News.com.au.

The court heard at a previous hearing that the unemployed man had been drinking when he went to his wife's Hobart home last June to talk with her, according to The Mercury.

She was lying on a bed and he twice asked her to turn over on to her stomach. When she refused he forcibly rolled her over, straddled her, pulled down her pants and kissed her on the bottom as she screamed "No, no!" the court heard previously.

Hearing the commotion, their children ran in and the victim explained she had been tickled but her husband made a vulgar comment.

When interviewed by police about the incident, the man admitted the attack and apologized to the victim.

He said he intended the kiss as an act of foreplay to lift the spirits of his depressed wife but admitted he went too far.

Magistrate Olivia McTaggart said she was satisfied a jail term was appropriate but that it should be suspended.

"It was a brief yet forceful and humiliating act for your wife. It was not expected and her embarrassment was heightened by the presence of your children in the house," she said.

The couple, who were married for 21 years, had separated since the incident, the court heard.

McTaggart sentenced the man to four months' jail but suspended it for three years on condition he commit no further sexual assaults.

She also imposed an 18-month probation order. (ANI)