(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) Authorities in the United Kingdom announced a search for a man who nibbled a young boy’s ear on camera at the World Snooker Championship, according to the Daily Mail.
The incident took place last week in the background of an interview with seven-time world Snooker champion Stephen Hendry during a break in the competition.
The predator, who some social media users allegedly identified as Stefano Voci, leaned over and whispered something into a young boy’s ear. He then proceeded to bite the boy’s ear.
The boy did not seem particularly shocked or surprised at the man’s behavior.
The boy then noticed they were on camera, and waved excitedly. The man, in what seemed to be an attempt to brush off the incident, made a funny face.
The relationship between the two is not clear in the video.
The video went viral on social media, leading the South Yorkshire Police to announce an investigation into the matter.
“Yesterday, Thursday 25 April at 9:20pm, we received a call to inform us of a video circulating on social media of a man and a boy at the Crucible in Sheffield,” the police force said. “We are aware of the footage and officers will be reviewing the content.”
The authorities released no other information.
Twitter users made the video go viral with their scandalized reactions.
“Find him and remove that poor child,” said one user. “Someone must know who he is.”
Find him remove that poor child.
Someone must know who he is— Believer of reality (@believerofreal) April 25, 2024
“Someone get this info to the police. He needs to be investigated,” a second user said. “You can see he was taken aback after realizing he was on camera. Then pretended to act like it was all normal.”
Some users speculated about their relationship and questioned the length of the possible abuse.
Stefano Voci deleted his social media page just after the incident, leading some to believe he is the assailant.
