A person commits the crime of indecent exposure by exposing the person’s body or private parts (usually genitals, anus, buttocks, or female breasts) in a public place and in the presence of another person who might be offended, alarmed, or annoyed. Laws vary from state to state—including definitions of exposed body parts—and some states require the exposure to have been made with the intent to attract attention or to sexually gratify the person making the indecent exposure, or to sexually gratify another person, or to offend another person.

Indecent exposure laws are generally located in a state’s statutes—often in the penal or criminal code.

In New Jersey, indecent exposure is addressed under the state's criminal statutes, specifically N.J.S.A. 2C:14-4, which covers lewdness. According to this statute, a person is guilty of a disorderly persons offense if they expose their intimate parts for the purpose of arousing or gratifying the sexual desire of themselves or anyone else, or they do so under circumstances that they know or should know will likely be observed by others who would be affronted or alarmed. New Jersey law requires that the exposure be intentional and that it is likely to be observed by a non-consenting person who would be affronted or alarmed by the act. The law does not specifically define 'public place,' but case law has interpreted it to include areas where the public has a right to be or commonly is, even if the exposure occurs on private property. If the act of lewdness is observed by a child under 13 or someone with a mental disease or defect who is unable to understand the sexual nature of the conduct, the offense is elevated to a crime of the third degree. It's important to note that local ordinances may also have regulations regarding indecent exposure, and these can vary between municipalities.