S. African artist guilty of exhibitionism for rooster-penis dance

South African artist Steven Cohen (R) arrives at the Paris courthouse for his trial, on May 5, 2014, in Paris. Cohen is standing trial over allegations of sexual exhibitionism after a performance last September in Paris during which he showed his penis trimmed with ribbon, and attached to a rooster. AFP

PARIS – A Paris court on Monday found a South African artist guilty of sexual exhibitionism after a performance in Paris that saw him dance with a rooster tied to his penis.

But the criminal court imposed no penalty on the artist, 51-year-old Steven Cohen, noting that no complaint had been filed against him and that he had not engaged in sexual acts.

Prosecutors had requested a 1,000 euro ($1,390) fine.

Cohen was arrested last September after the performance in a busy public square near the Eiffel Tower.

Sporting platform shoes and an outlandish costume including feathers on his fingers and a headdress made of a stuffed pheasant, he danced for 10 minutes with his penis attached to the rooster, before police stepped in.

“What I did was art (that) had nothing to do with sexuality,” he had told the court, adding that no one — even a group of passing nuns — had complained about the performance.