H. B. 4542


(By Delegates Border, Rowe, Ashley and Kiss)
[Introduced February 22, 1994; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]




A BILL to amend article eight-b, chapter sixty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section ten, relating to prohibiting public indecency and indecent exposure; definitions; and criminal penalties.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

That article eight-b, chapter sixty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section ten, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 8B. SEXUAL OFFENSES.

§ 61-8B-10. Public indecency; indecent exposure; penalties.

(a) A person is guilty of public indecency when the person knowingly or intentionally, in a public place:
(1) Engages in sexual intercourse;
(2) Engages in deviate sexual conduct;
(3) Appears in a state of nudity; or
(4) Fondles his or her genitals or the genitals of another person.
(b) "Nudity" means the showing of the human male or female genitals, pubic area, or buttocks with less than a fully opaque covering, the showing of the female breast with less than a fully opaque covering of any part of the nipple, or the showing of covered male genitals in a discernibly turgid state.
(c) A person is guilty of indecent exposure when the person, who, in a place other than a public place, with the intent to be seen by persons other than invitees and occupants of that place:
(1) Engages in sexual intercourse;
(2) Engages in deviate sexual conduct; or
(3) Fondles his or her genitals or the genitals of another person.
(d) Any person who violates the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars or confined in the county or regional jail for not more than one year, or both fined and imprisoned.



NOTE: The purpose of the bill is to create the misdemeanor offenses of public indecency and indecent exposure and provide criminal penalties therefor.

This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.