An Oregon man became enraged at a police officer during a disagreement over state laws allowing public nudity in front of children.
Thomas Collins, a father from Bend, Oregon, filmed the heated confrontation after a naked stranger allegedly walked onto his property in front of his two-year-old son.
The video, which has racked up more than 800,000 views since it was posted on June 4, begins in the middle of Collins’ conversation with Officer Jeremy Avery of the Bend Police Department.
—Are you saying that in the state of Oregon someone can approach your two-year-old completely naked and it’s not a crime, even if it’s on your property? Collins demands.
‘Correct. “Well, then it’s trespassing, but what I mean is that there are no laws against the nudity part,” Avery responds.
Thomas Collins filmed his heated confrontation with a Bend, Oregon, police officer after a naked stranger allegedly walked onto his property in front of his two-year-old son.
Collins professed that the police “literally do nothing” and insisted that public nudity was a crime.
As Collins continues to press him, Avery clarifies that people can “walk in public, naked, on private property” as long as they are not “doing it for sexual gratification.”
Collins then enters the frame.
“On private property, this is where I live, and someone just came and exposed themselves to my two-year-old son, and this officer says that’s not a crime,” the father fumes.
She claims a naked stranger approached her two-year-old son before he “ran over to him and covered his eyes so he couldn’t see.”
“My obvious thought is to call 911 as someone is indecently exposing themselves to my son on my property,” Collins continues.
‘At what point did this become normal and acceptable? The police will literally do nothing about it.
“They’re basically saying we have to wait for that person to do something more serious to your child before we can intervene.”
Collins said he was forced to run to his son and “cover his eyes so he couldn’t see.”
Despite Collins’ fury, public nudity is largely legal under Oregon state law, which takes precedence in the city of Bend.
Public nudity is broadly legal under Oregon law, but different cities and counties may have their own regulations.
In Portland, for example, Title 14 of the city code makes it illegal for “any person to expose his or her genitals while in a public place…if the public place is open or available to persons of the opposite sex.”
The conversation doesn’t end there, however, as the city hosts an annual nude bike ride that is legally permitted.
Nudity as a form of protest is protected by state law, and organizers insist they are striving to draw attention to issues of bicycle safety and pollution.
The City of Eugene’s municipal code closely mirrors Portland’s public nudity law, with a specific provision prohibiting anyone eight years old or older from exposing their genitals in public.
However, the city of Bend does not have a particular anti-nudity ordinance, which means Oregon law is Bend law.
As Avery explained, simply walking around without clothes is not considered public indecency; rather, what matters is a person’s behavior.
To be arrested in violation of Oregon state law, a person must participate in sexual relations, masturbation, or exposing one’s genitals ‘with the intention of arousing the sexual desire of the person or another person’.
Officer Jeremy Avery admitted that trespassing was a crime, although public nudity was not.
Some viewers pointed out that cops like Avery are simply enforcing the law as it is written.
“Brother calls him useless but the guy can’t arrest a person falsely,” one user commented.
Others encouraged Collins to read up on local laws and pressure lawmakers to make a change.
The man of the curve landed in the news last year for a viral video in which he argued that skyrocketing prices could not be explained simply by inflation.
In a clip posted on January 9, 2023, Collins claimed that prices for products such as bulk lentils, flour and butter had increased more than 50 percent since he purchased them a year earlier.
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