Translation of:
http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2009/09/04/paisvasco/1252075942.html

French nudist who goes around San Sebastián is acquitted of exhibitionism
September 4, 2009

The French citizen who goes around San Sebastián naked did not commit a
crime of exhibitionism when he was detained in May of 2008 near the
Peine del Viento, according to the conclusion by the judge in the case,
who holds that there was no "lewd intention" in his attitude.

The defendant, whose judgment was last Wednesday, had been sentenced to
a fine of 160 euros for the misdemeanor of disobeying agents of the
authority.

The ruling from the Penal Court [Juzgado de lo Penal] number 1 of San
Sebastián indicates that in no case has it been shown that this citizen,
known as "Irwin", "displayed an attitude on the public street of
manifest, patent and unquestionable sexual provocation".

The magistrate considers it proven that, on the afternoon of May 15 of
the past year, the accused was found lying naked on the sea wall of the
Paseo de Eduardo Chillida when two police officers approached him and
requested that he get dressed, which he refused to do.

Next, according to the officers' declaration, he began to walk around in
public and to pose for photographs, "making a show of his nakedness".

However, the judge holds that, although he may have shown "an
impertinent, shameless and proud attitude", his behavior doesn't have
"anything to do" with that which the Penal Code addresses in the crime
of exhibitionism, namely, that it is "absolutely essential that the
subject has a lewd intention, a clear obscene intention directed to
satisfy his sexual desires".

The judge emphasized that "the action of the defendant can
inconvenience, bother, outrage or even offend some citizens according to
their beliefs and sensitivities, but this doesn't mean in itself than
his action can be described as a crime".

It is also understood that he did not commit a crime of disobedience,
since behaviors of "mere passivity or refusal to obey constitute a
misdemeanor", in this case a minor misdemeanor because he did not "shout
violently" nor make "aggressive gestures", nor with "active resistance"
make it difficult for the police to do their job.

Nonetheless, the judge advises that the officers acted in the
"legitimate exercise of their functions" in compliance with the
Municipal Ordinance on Civic Responsibility, "regardless of whether or
not this is valid from a legal point of view, as the defense has argued".

The public prosecutor had requested 17 months of jail for "Irwin" for
the crime of disobedience and for the crime of exhibitionism before
minors, given that the events occurred in the presence of two boys of 13
and 16 years, whose mother declared in the judgment that at no moment
did the defendant make a gesture of sexual provocation towards the
children, and that she did not feel offended or intimidated by his attitude.