A couple months back, a disturbing clip of a grown man nibbling a child’s ear in the background of the BBC’s World Snooker Championship coverage went viral, with social media users wondering whether they had just witnessed noncery in action on live TV. Here’s a reminder:

Wtf did I just watch….. pic.twitter.com/5giLLNCC02

— Aindriú Jax (Ragnar Lodbrok) (@AindriuJ) April 25, 2024

Earlier this week, South Yorkshire Police put out a statement announcing that they had investigated the incident and found ‘no crime had been committed’, which would suggest that what was happening in the clip was just some good old-fashioned familial affection between a father and son.

Of course, by the time the police concluded their investigation, the internet had already tracked down the man in the clip and identified him as 43-year-old Stefano Voci – an Italian man who had travelled with his lad from Milan to the UK to watch the snooker.

It turns out Stefano Voci addressed the incident in a Facebook post, which he then deleted, before deleting his entire account altogether. Here’s what it said (translated from Italian):

“There are many clarifications to make but everything is in process. I was just someone sharing love and affection like anyone else, that was exposed maliciously.”

“All the pictures are being edited in social networks, those pictures are not mine they are just setting this up to affect me….No more hate. My family is fine and closer than ever, I don’t care that my face is all over social media with photo montages and fake posts.

“Just leave my family alone. God bless you all and best wishes to you all.”

Man, you actually have to feel bad for the guy. OK it is a little odd to be nibbling and whispering into your child’s ear like that, but he’s Italian ffs, maybe that’s just how they do things over there. The clip has now been viewed tens of millions of times across multiple social media platforms, and there’s bound to be plenty of people out there who won’t know or care that he’s innocent, and will just assume this man is a nonce until the end of time. Very harsh indeed.

Well anyway, hopefully the internet (for the most part) can move on from this story and Stefano Voci can reinstate his Facebook profile once it’s all died down a little bit. Failing that, maybe a name change and some kind of makeover to render himself unrecognisable (not that he should have to – but needs must).

For the mum who hit back at trolls who ‘sexualised’ a photo of her with her 15-year-old son, click HERE. Can’t even be affectionate with your kids anymore!