Man charged after being 'caught masturbating' during The Emoji Movie

Police in New Jersey have charged a man with “lewdness” after he was spotted masturbating in the back row of a cinema during kids’ animation ‘The Emoji Movie’.

The man, identified by News 12 New Jersey as 43-year-old Abraham Parnes, was initially reported to authorities on 28 July by a mother at the Xscape movie theater in Howell, New Jersey. News 12 says she spotted Parnes “with his hands down his pants which were unbuttoned and unzipped”.

According to The Wrap, he was asked to leave by the cinema manager after the complaint, before the police were alerted. A search for the suspect described as a “white, heavyset man in his 20s or 30s” ended when Parnes handed himself in to police on Wednesday morning following an anonymous tip that lead to his identification.

Parnes has been charged with lewdness and released on a summons.

‘The Emoji Movie’, released by Sony Pictures, has been a commercial hit despite receiving a drubbing from critics. The film’s Rotten Tomatoes score currently stands at 6%, but summer holiday audiences have still flocked to the animated film that brings to life the emojis that live inside your smartphone.

Earning a solid £18.6m in its opening week at the US box office against a reported budget of £38m, the animated movie is likely to turn a profit for Sony Pictures despite the reviews.

Starring Sir Patrick Stewart as the voice of the poop emoji, ‘The Emoji Movie’ is in cinemas now.

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