Manatee County Sheriff’s deputies arrested a 36-year-old man for allegedly prancing along a sidewalk in his birthday suit. The man supposedly told police that he only wanted to feel free.
According to the arrest report, officers evidently witnessed the man listening to his iPod and dancing nude on a Sarasota, FL sidewalk.
The man was charged with exposure of sexual organs.
Florida law makes it a crime to expose yourself everywhere except for your own property. However, if your property is in an area that is easily visible by others, you could still be arrested for walking around in the buff. Indecent exposure can be charged after genitals are displayed in public. A mother breastfeeding her child in a public area does not qualify as indecent exposure. A charge of indecent exposure is a first-degree misdemeanor punishable by a maximum of one year in jail.
Most indecent exposure charges erupt from misunderstandings and while a lesser sex crimes offense, an indecent exposure conviction could have negative impacts on your personal and professional life. Indecent exposure is still a sex crime and if the arrest occurs due to exposure in front of a child, this could make the charges much more complicated and could result in registration as a sexual predator.
If you have been charged with indecent exposure anywhere in the state of Florida, contact the Florida Sex Crimes Defense Lawyers online or call us toll-free at 866-608-5529.