Suspect Accused of Exposing Himself in Dalton Restaurant

Whitfield County Courthouse

Dalton, Ga. - According to reports, police are searching for a suspect who has been accused of not only exposing himself but masturbating in front of a young girl at a local restaurant in Dalton.

The young girl noticed the man and also noticed that he was taking pictures of her and her friends. She managed to record the suspect and reported it to police. As a Georgia Sex Crimes Lawyer, I will focus on indecent exposure otherwise known as public indecency in today's post.

Public Indecency in Georgia

According to Georgia Law, public indecency in Georgia is defined in O.C.G.A. §16-6-8 as:

A person commits the offense of public indecency when he or she performs any of the following four acts in a public place:

1. An act of sexual intercourse;
2. A lewd exposure of the sexual organs;
3. A lewd appearance in a state of partial or complete nudity; or
4. A lewd caress or indecent fondling of the body of another person.

Legally, a public place includes jails and correctional institutions of the state and political subdivisions. Public places also include private residences that are visible to the public.

Georgia Courts have gone as far as convicting individuals who have been caught urinating on the ground in a public place as enough to support a conviction of making a lewd appearance in a state of partial nudity in a public place.

A person convicted of public indecency in Georgia shall be punished as a misdemeanor for the first and second conviction.

A third conviction will result in a felony conviction and a prison term between one and five years.

Practice Note

Call our offices now if you have been accused of a crime. Just because a person has been accused does not mean that he or she is guilty of the criminal offense. Call our offices now.