New York State Law

Penal Law

Consolidated Laws of New York's Penal code

Article 245 - NY Penal Law

OFFENSES AGAINST PUBLIC SENSIBILITIES

Section Offense Class
245.00 Public lewdness. B MISD
245.01 Exposure of a person. VIOLATION
245.02 Promoting the exposure of a person. VIOLATION
245.03 Public lewdness in the first degree. A MISD
245.05 Offensive exhibition. VIOLATION
245.10 Public display of offensive sexual material; definitions of terms.  
245.11 Public display of offensive sexual material. A MISD
245.15 Unlawful dissemination or publication of an intimate image. A MISD
S 245.00 Public lewdness.
  A  person  is  guilty  of public lewdness when he or she intentionally
 exposes the private or intimate parts of his  or  her  body  in  a  lewd
 manner  or commits any other lewd act: (a) in a public place, or (b) (i)
 in private premises under circumstances in which he or she  may  readily
 be  observed  from either a public place or from other private premises,
 and  with  intent  that  he  or  she  be  so  observed,  or  (ii)  while
 trespassing, as defined in section 140.05 of this part, in a dwelling as
 defined  in  subdivision  three  of  section  140.00 of this part, under
 circumstances in which he or she is observed by a lawful occupant.
  Public lewdness is a class B misdemeanor.

S 245.01 Exposure of a person.
  A person is guilty of exposure if he appears in a public place in such
a manner that the private or intimate parts of his body are unclothed or
exposed. For purposes of this section, the private or intimate parts of
a female person shall include that portion of the breast which is below
the top of the areola. This section shall not apply to the breastfeeding
of infants or to any person entertaining or performing in a play,
exhibition, show or entertainment.
  Exposure of a person is a violation.
  Nothing in this section shall prevent the adoption by a city, town or
village of a local law prohibiting exposure of a person as herein
defined in a public place, at any time, whether or not such person is
entertaining or performing in a play, exhibition, show or entertainment.

S 245.02 Promoting the exposure of a person.
  A person is guilty of promoting the exposure of a person when he
knowingly conducts, maintains, owns, manages, operates or furnishes any
public premise or place where a person in a public place appears in such
a manner that the private or intimate parts of his body are unclothed or
exposed. For purposes of this section, the private or intimate parts of
a female person shall include that portion of the breast which is below
the top of the areola. This section shall not apply to the breastfeeding
of infants or to any person entertaining or performing in a play,
exhibition, show or entertainment.
  Promoting the exposure of a person is a violation.
  Nothing in this section shall prevent the adoption by a city, town or
village of a local law prohibiting the exposure of a person
substantially as herein defined in a public place, at any time, whether
or not such person is entertaining or performing in a play, exhibition,
show or entertainment.

S 245.03 Public lewdness in the first degree.
  A person is guilty of public lewdness in the first degree when:
  1.  being  nineteen years of age or older and intending to be observed
by a person less than sixteen years of  age  in  a  place  described  in
subdivision  (a)  or  (b)  of  section 245.00 of this article, he or she
intentionally exposes the private or intimate parts of his or  her  body
in  a lewd manner for the purpose of alarming or seriously annoying such
person, and he or she is thereby observed by such person in such  place;
or
  2.  he  or  she  commits  the  crime of public lewdness, as defined in
section 245.00 of this article, and within the preceding year  has  been
convicted of an offense defined in such section 245.00 or this section.
  Public lewdness in the first degree is a class A misdemeanor.

S 245.05 Offensive exhibition.
  A person is guilty of offensive exhibition when he knowingly produces,
operates, manages or furnishes premises for, or in any way promotes or
participates in, an exhibition in the nature of public entertainment or
amusement in which:
  1. A person competes continuously without respite for a period of more
than eight consecutive hours in a dance contest, bicycle race or other
contest involving physical endurance; or
  2. A person is held up to ridicule or contempt by voluntarily
submitting to indignities such as the throwing of balls or other
articles at his head or body; or
  3. A firearm is discharged or a knife, arrow or other sharp or
dangerous instrument is thrown or propelled at or toward a person.
  Offensive exhibition is a violation.

S 245.10 Public display of offensive sexual material; definitions of terms.
  The following definitions are applicable to section 245.11:
  1. "Nudity" means the showing of the human male or female genitals,
pubic area or buttocks with less than a full opaque covering, or the
showing of the female breast with less than a fully opaque covering of
any portion thereof below the top of the nipple, or the depiction of
covered male genitals in a discernibly turgid state.
  2. "Sexual conduct" means an act of masturbation, homosexuality,
sexual intercourse, or physical contact with a person`s clothed or
unclothed genitals, pubic area, buttocks or, if such person be a female,
breast.
  3. "Sado-masochistic abuse" means flagellation or torture by or upon a
person clad in undergarments, a mask or bizzare costume, or the
condition of being fettered, bound or otherwise physically restrained on
the part of one so clothed.
  4. "Transportation facility" means any conveyance, premises or place
used for or in connection with public passenger transportation, whether
by air, railroad, motor vehicle or any other method. It includes
aircraft, watercraft, railroad cars, buses, and air, boat, railroad and
bus terminals and stations and all appurtenances thereto.

S 245.11 Public display of offensive sexual material.
  A person is guilty of public display of offensive sexual material
when, with knowledge of its character and content, he displays or
permits to be displayed in or on any window, showcase, newsstand,
display rack, wall, door, billboard, display board, viewing screen,
moving picture screen, marquee or similar place, in such manner that the
display is easily visible from or in any:  public street, sidewalk or
thoroughfare; transportation facility; or any place accessible to
members of the public without fee or other limit or condition of
admission such as a minimum age requirement and including but not
limited to schools, places of amusement, parks and playgrounds but
excluding rooms or apartments designed for actual residence; any
pictorial, three-dimensional or other visual representation of a person
or a portion of the human body that predominantly appeals to prurient
interest in sex, and that:
  (a) depicts nudity, or actual or simulated sexual conduct or
sado-masochistic abuse; or
  (b) depicts or appears to depict nudity, or actual or simulated sexual
conduct or sado-masochistic abuse, with the area of the male or female
subject`s unclothed or apparently unclothed genitals, pubic area or
buttocks, or of the female subject`s unclothed or apparently unclothed
breast, obscured by a covering or mark placed or printed on or in front
of the material displayed, or obscured or altered in any other manner.
  Public display of offensive sexual material is a Class A misdemeanor.

S 245.15 Unlawful dissemination or publication of an intimate image.
  1. A person is guilty of unlawful dissemination or publication of 
  an intimate image when:
  (a) with intent to cause harm to the emotional, financial or 
  physical welfare of another person, he or she intentionally 
  disseminates or publishes a still or video image of such other 
  person, who is identifiable from the still or video image itself 
  or from information displayed in connection with the still or 
  video image, without such other person's consent, which depicts:
  (i) an unclothed or exposed intimate part of such other person; or
  (ii) such other person engaging in sexual conduct as defined in 
  subdivision ten of section 130.00 of this chapter with another 
  person; and
  (b) such still or video image was taken under circumstances when
  the person depicted had a reasonable expectation that the image
  would remain private and the actor knew or reasonably should have
  known the person depicted intended for the still or video image to
  remain private, regardless of whether the actor was present when
  the still or video image was taken.

  2. For purposes of this section "intimate part" means the naked
  genitals, pubic area, anus or female nipple of the person.

  2-a. For purposes of this section "disseminate" and "publish"
  shall have the same meaning as defined in section 250.40 of this title.

  3. This section shall not apply to the following:
  (a) the reporting of unlawful conduct;
  (b) dissemination or publication of an intimate image made during
  lawful and common practices of law enforcement, legal proceedings
  or medical treatment;
  (c) images involving voluntary exposure in a public or commercial
  setting; or
  (d) dissemination or publication of an intimate image made for a
  legitimate public purpose.

  4. Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit, or to 
  enlarge, the protections that 47 U.S.C § 230 confers on an
  interactive computer service for content provided by another
  information content provider, as such terms are defined in 
  47 U.S.C. § 230.
    Unlawful dissemination or publication 
  of an intimate image is a class A misdemeanor.  

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