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 Oregon, indecent exposure is addressed under ORS 163.465. A person commits the crime of public indecency if while in, or in view of, a public place the person performs: an act of sexual intercourse; an act of deviate sexual intercourse; or exposes the genitals with the intent of arousing the sexual desire of the person or another person. The law specifies that it is not a defense that the person did not intend to arouse or gratify the sexual desire of oneself or another person if the person knows that the conduct is likely to cause affront or alarm. Public indecency is a Class A misdemeanor, but it can be elevated to a Class C felony if the person has a prior conviction for public indecency or if the act was committed in the immediate presence of, or was viewed by, a person under 18 years of age. The Oregon statutes thus require an element of intent for the act to be considered indecent exposure.