Ventura Criminal Defense Attorney- Indecent Exposure – Sanford Horowitz Criminal Defense, p.c. 

Under California Penal Code Section 314, it is illegal to willfully and lewdly expose your private parts in a public place or any place where individuals would be offended or annoyed by your actions. You can even be convicted for indecent exposure inside your own home, if you intentionally exposed your private parts in the presence of another who might be offended or annoyed.

A former Prosecutor for the District Attorney’s Offices in Santa Barbara and San Diego Counties, Sanford Horowitz and his legal team will offer you a free consultation, investigate the evidence against you, and recommend practical steps to achieve the best possible results in your case.

Elements Of The Crime

In order to secure a conviction in Ventura for indecent exposure, the prosecutor must produce sufficient proof to a judge or jury, beyond a reasonable doubt, the existence of specific components of the offense. These components include the following:

Exposure of private body parts

In general, indecent exposure (sometimes referred to as public indecency) is the deliberate exhibition of a person’s genitals, buttocks and/or female nipples in a public location. Breastfeeding mothers are exempt from prosecution for exposing their breasts in public in most states.

exposure that is willful

You willfully exposed your genitals if you acted in the presence of another person or persons who might be offended or annoyed by your actions. You acted lewdly by intending to direct public attention to your genitals for the purpose of sexually arousing or gratifying yourself or another person, or sexually offending another person.

If you exposed your naked body or genitals believing you would be seen, even if no one actually saw the exposure, you have committed indecent exposure.

The law disregards what any person who witnesses your allegedly indecent act actually thinks about your act. The law assumes that any witness to your act will be offended or annoyed by your conduct.

exposure in a public place

Retail establishments and outdoor areas, whether publicly or privately owned, are examples of public places. A room inside a home, not visible to anyone outside the home, is an example of a place that is not a considered to be a public place.

However, it is possible to commit indecent exposure in the comfort your own home. For example, if Jim finds his neighbor Kim to be attractive, and seeks arousal through showing her his genitals, he is intending to commit indecent exposure.

If Kim sees Jim pacing back and forth naked in front of his window adjacent from her window but only sees enough to know he is trying to expose himself to her, he is still guilty of indecent exposure.

Indecent Exposure Penalties

Indecent exposure is generally charged as a misdemeanor offense in California. The maximum allowable criminal penalty for a misdemeanor indecent exposure conviction includes any of the following:

• Six months in Ventura County jail,
• $1,000 in criminal fines, and
• Registration as a sex offender in the state of California.

There are certain situations when acts of indecent exposure can be charged as a felony. You will face felony charges for aggravated indecent exposure if you have prior convictions for indecent exposures and/or break into another person’s home to expose yourself. A conviction for felony indecent exposure is punishable by any of the following:

• Up to 3 years in a California state prison,
• $10,000 in criminal fines, and
• Registration as a sex offender in the state of California.

If convicted for indecent exposure in Ventura, the court will require you to register as a sex offender and you will be required to annually update yourself on the sex offender registry with the state for a minimum of ten years. Your status as a sex offender will be made public since indecent exposure is considered to be a sex crime.

Most professional organizations requiring licenses in California will consider discipline for anyone convicted of indecent exposure who also holds a professional license in the state. This doesn’t, however, mean that you have to give up your license. Misdemeanor convictions are an exception to the general disciplinary approach, which would otherwise involve the possibility of losing your professional license.