Melissa Midwest’s public nudity problems
The photo to the right shows Melissa Midwest, the popular Internet star, holding her citation for [tag]public nudity[/tag]. Last week she was sentenced to six months probation and 50 hours of community service for her conviction on that charge. She was facing up to eight months in jail or a $500 fine. (click photo to see larger version)
Melissa got her public nudity citation after hosting a wet T-shirt contest at Cheerleaders bar. While public nudity is illegal in her hometown of Lincoln, NE, Melissa claims she was wearing opaque pink latex paint over her nipples, creating a de facto ‘pastie’ in accordance with the law, which requires that the areola and nipple be covered.
This is only Melissa’s her latest run in with law enforcement. Her first trouble was three years ago when she posted topless photos of herself on her website. Authorities charged her with the same offense — [tag]public indecency[/tag]. The case got attention from CNN, USA Today and NBC’s “Tonight Show.”
In this latest case, the police officers didn’t agree about the pink latex paint and charged Melissa with violating the city’s public decency ordinance at her home the next day. According to Melissa, because she’s well known, the local police follow her to events and station undercover officers inside to spot any decency violations.
A camera crew filmed the event for the Melissa Midwest website, so the tape can be used to appeal based on it showing that her nipples were obscured. It was even reported that a police officer at the event said, “Her nipple looks covered to me.”
In her ruling, Lancaster County Judge Jean Lovell said that the paint was not good enough to comply with the law, which mandates that the areas be opaque — not clear.
About her sentence, Melissa wrote, “I guess I would say it’s about what I expected, but I still plan to file the appeal on Monday for both the conviction and the sentence because I still think it was crap. This may take up to a year to get resolved so I will go ahead and get my probation out of the way in the meantime. I also almost have my lawsuit ready to file I hope within the next 10 days it will be done.”
After the 2003 incident, Melissa posed for layouts in Maxim, FHM and Playboy. In 2004, she was named Gallery magazine’s Girl Next Door of the Year.
“I’m not going to stop now that we’ve come this far,” Melissa said. “I’m going to see this through till the end. I’m from a small conservative town and I have to fight for my rights and for others down the road.”
Under the terms of her probation, she cannot host events at bars.
Visit Melissa at her Melissa Midwest website.
