A woman sat topless on a bench at the Boulder Transit Center. It wasn’t the first time Regional Transportation District security workers reminded the woman her partial nudity was against RTD policy. The woman stated, until recently, she was never confronted by security guards her about the absent shirt, but guards told a different story.
Security workers stated the woman appeared topless at the transit center several times. Each time, the woman was told by guards her conduct was unsuitable. Going topless is not illegal on public property in Boulder, but other property owners do not have to tolerate the behavior.
The woman was topless when she entered the RTD property and voluntarily put a shirt on after her husband suggested she do so. Despite her compliance, security guards approached the couple and asked them to leave. After refusing, the husband argued with the guard, who claimed the 64-year-old man assaulted him.
The husband allegedly poked the guard. The man reportedly pushed and struck the worker, when the guard took hold of the man’s arm in an apparent effort to make the upset visitor sit down. The husband now faces trial for third-degree trespassing and third-degree assault charges.
No charges were filed against the defendant’s wife, who said her husband was defending her. He reacted because the guard yelled at the woman and allegedly punched her in the stomach. The assault case goes to trial in late November.
At one time, Colorado public decency laws made it a sex crime to expose genitals or other intimate parts in public, even for people who were forced by homelessness or other emergency reasons to urinate outside. House Bill 1334 led to the revision of the law in June 2010.
The offense was redefined to apply to nudity with the intent of sexual gratification. The charge is invalid unless prosecutors can show that was a defendant’s purpose.
Source: Daily Camera, “Woman topless at bus station: RTD guard started confrontation that led to husband’s arrest” Mitchell Byars, Oct. 13, 2014