A person generally commits the criminal offense of public lewdness or lewd conduct in public if the person knowingly engages in any of the following acts in a public place—or, if not in a public place, the person is reckless about whether another is present who will be offended or alarmed by the person’s (1) act of sexual intercourse; (2) act of deviate sexual intercourse; (3) act of sexual contact with a person’s own private parts or those of another.
Public lewdness laws vary from state to state, and some states define and charge such criminal offenses under indecent exposure laws. Public lewdness is usually a misdemeanor offense, but may be a felony offense under some circumstances. And in some states a conviction for public lewdness may require the defendant to register as a sex offender.
In Ohio, public lewdness is typically addressed under the state's public indecency laws, codified in Ohio Revised Code Section 2907.09. A person may be charged with public indecency if they recklessly expose their private parts, engage in sexual conduct or masturbation, or engage in conduct that to an ordinary observer would appear to be sexual conduct or masturbation, when at least one of the following applies: the act is likely to be viewed by and affront others who are in the person's physical proximity and not members of the person's household, the act is in a place where the person can be viewed from any private dwelling without a search warrant, or the person solicits another to engage in sexual activity with them and the solicitation is likely to be heard or seen by persons under 18 years of age. The offense can range from a misdemeanor of the fourth degree to a felony of the fifth degree, depending on the circumstances, such as the presence of a minor or prior offenses. A conviction for public indecency may not automatically require sex offender registration in Ohio; however, certain circumstances of the offense could lead to such a requirement under Ohio's sex offender registration laws.
