February 11, 2010 09:44 PM UTC

He Said "Touchy"

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• by: Colorado Pols

As the Grand Junction Sentinel reports:

Masturbating in public should be more than just a petty offense, Rep. Steve King said Wednesday.

That’s why the Grand Junction Republican introduced a bill into the Colorado Legislature to make the law clear when a person should be charged with public indecency.

King, who said the Colorado District Attorneys’ Council approached him about the matter, said the point behind the measure is to distinguish public indecency from other crimes that are not sexual in nature, such as streaking or urinating in public…

King said he knows he’s likely to be the brunt of numerous jokes around the statehouse, but public indecency is a serious subject.

“This is a touchy subject,” King said, laughing at his unintended pun. “Because of a focus on sexual crimes of children, it’s important to get the law right. But those who make the bad choice of urinating in public in an alley after a night of drinking, that’s not a sexual crime, and people shouldn’t be charged that way.”

Joking aside for just a moment, Rep. Steve King is right that more clearly sexual offenses in public should be handled differently from, for example, Boulder’s annual Pumpkin Run or Sen. Shawn Mitchell’s high school indiscretions. And with that, we’re back to the joking.