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Times Square 'Kiss Cam' Is a Perv Magnet, Bratton Says

By  Gwynne Hogan and Trevor Kapp | October 9, 2015 2:35pm | Updated on October 9, 2015 7:35pm

 Tourists gather to show their affection for each other in front of the Revlon's Kiss Cam in Times Square. The company temporarily turned off the live cam after police said several women had been groped.
Tourists gather to show their affection for each other in front of the Revlon's Kiss Cam in Times Square. The company temporarily turned off the live cam after police said several women had been groped.
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DNAinfo/Ben Fractenberg

TIMES SQUARE — Police have arrested four people in the past month for grabbing and rubbing up against women who stop to pose for Revlon's "Kiss Cam" in Times Square, they said.

The recent surge in groping near the interactive billboard — which is connected to a camera that snaps photos of people in a pedestrian walkway and displays them at 43rd Street and Broadway — led police to urge the cosmetics giant to shut down the billboard at 8:00 p.m., police said.

The company agreed to do so, police added. 

"People who [are] so intent on taking selfies of themselves they don’t realize someone’s grabbing their butt while they’re taking their photo," Bratton said at a Tuesday press conference.

 For some reason, tourists gather day in and day out to wave at the Revlon's Kiss Cam in Times Square. Some get groped there, police said.
For some reason, tourists gather day in and day out to wave at the Revlon's Kiss Cam in Times Square. Some get groped there, police said.
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DNAinfo/Gwynne Hogan

Bratton added that the gropers are so unafraid that they don't even mind being caught on camera.

"You’d think something that’s being photographed would deter them, but just the opposite,” he said.

Police arrested two suspects on Sept. 4, another one on Sept. 25 and a fourth on Sept. 29, officials said. 

The four culprits cuffed in the past month were Nicholas Sportelli, 34, Saoud Alotaibi, 37, Alfredo Diaz, 45, Delashon D. Atkins, 27, police said.

All of the men were charged with forcible touching and sex abuse, according to police and court records. No information about their lawyers was immediately available.

A spokesman for Revlon said the company was cooperating with the police. 

"We have made a decision to temporarily turn off the live cam to evaluate the current situation," said spokesman Mario Ruiz in an email.