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Masturbating SEPTA cop convicted, gets jail time

Kevin Fant, who has since been fired, was videotaped pleasuring himself on the Broad Street Line.

Kevin Fant, 44.
Kevin Fant, 44.Read more

A FORMER SEPTA Transit Police officer who was videotaped masturbating on a Broad Street Line train was convicted yesterday of open lewdness and indecent exposure.

Kevin Fant, 44, worked for SEPTA and was off duty, dressed in a gray hoodie sweatshirt, black biker shorts and black sneakers, when someone videotaped him fondling himself.

After viewing the short video of Fant pleasuring himself - which was not played in open court - and hearing from two SEPTA employees, Municipal Judge Karen Yvette Simmons convicted the former transit cop, who has since been fired, of the two misdemeanor charges. She sentenced him to one to two months in jail, plus 18 months' reporting probation.

Assistant District Attorney Kristen Kemp, who asked for that jail term, said as a cop, Fant was supposed to keep people safe, but instead was acting in a way that would make people feel uncomfortable. "It ruins it for people who live here, it ruins it for tourists," Kemp said.

"This is troubling," the judge agreed, saying that as a cop, Fant was supposed to hold himself up to a higher standard.

Eric Negron, a social-media specialist for SEPTA's customer-service department, testified that a supervisor called him on a Saturday in late October and alerted him to the video, which SEPTA learned about after someone posted a link to it on the @SEPTA_SOCIAL Twitter page.

Negron then told SEPTA police about the video.

SEPTA Transit Police Sgt. William Saunders Jr. testified he recognized the person in the video as Fant, his colleague. He said the video was posted on Tumblr on Aug. 18, but did not know when it was taken.

Authorities do not know who took the video.

Defense attorney Richard Hark argued that the video could have been manipulated.

Kemp argued that the video showed it was Fant masturbating. Fant "looks at the person who is taking the video and continues going on," she said.

Simmons granted a request by Hark for Fant to serve his jail time on weekends, and told Fant to turn himself in April 17.