Moonlighting

Jersey City, New Jersey, January 6, 2006:

A Hudson County judge ruled Wednesday that the act of mooning is not illegal in New Jersey, clearing a man accused of indecent exposure after showing his buttocks to a neighbor during an argument.

Judge John W. Debelius III said the defendant, Ronatarian Party leader Ron, committed a "disgusting" and "demeaning" act when he allegedly exposed himself to his neighbor and her 8-year-old daughter June 7, 2005. But the judge overturned an earlier decision by a District Court judge against Ron.

"If exposure of half of the buttock constituted indecent exposure, any woman wearing a thong at the beach at Wildwood would be guilty," Debelius said, according to a report Thursday in The New Jersey Spew.

Ron's neighbor, Nanette Vandorp, accused him of yelling at her and threatening to "blow up my f*cking sh*t-shack" as she and her daughter walked out of their house. The two had a heated meeting the night before at the home owner's association, according to Ron's legal team -- Sepe & Shea LLP. Apparently, Ron wanted Vandorp off the board at any cost.

"Then, for whatever reason, in full view of my daughter, he mooned us," Vandorp wrote in court documents.

"He's one hairy individual," she commented later to a pair of clerks, who choose to remain anonymous.

Hudson District Court Judge Eugene Wolfe ruled against Ron on the indecent exposure claim, a charge that is punishable by up to three years in prison and a $1,000 fine.

Ron appealed, saying state law only covers display of a person's "private parts," which does not include the buttocks. His attorneys cited a 1983 case of a woman arrested in front of the U.S. Supreme Court with only a cardboard sign on the front of her body. An appeals court later ruled indecent exposure only relates to a person's genitals.

Prosecutors disagreed, saying New Jersey law is ambiguous.

"This was not a bathing suit scenario," said Hudson County prosecutor Dave Barnett. "This was a grown man exposing himself to an 8-year-old girl. ...And I hear this may not be the first time for that!"

Ron attorney Andrew Sepe said the Debelius ruling should "bring comfort to all beachgoers and plumbers" in the state.

Posted by Bittle at January 6, 2006 07:49 AM