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 York, indecent exposure is addressed under the state's penal law as 'Public Lewdness' (Section 245.00) and 'Exposure of a Person' (Section 245.01). A person is guilty of Public Lewdness when they intentionally expose the private or intimate parts of their body in a lewd manner or commit any other lewd act in a public place, or in private premises under circumstances in which they may readily be observed from either a public place or from other private premises, and with intent that they be so observed. Public Lewdness is a class B misdemeanor. Exposure of a Person is a violation and occurs when a person appears in a public place in such a manner that the private or intimate parts of their body are unclothed or exposed. For a conviction, New York does not require the exposure to be made with the intent to sexually gratify or offend another person, which differentiates it from some other states' statutes. However, the intent to be observed is relevant in the case of Public Lewdness.