Community shows concern Commissioners
hear complaints against stripper
By Jessica Webster
City
Editor
Angry neighbors complained
to the Tippecanoe County Commissioners Monday about a Lafayette stripper
who dances on her front lawn with a 10-foot pole.
The neighbors even
showed a home video of visibly mobile and sparsely dressed Kim Mattes,
the Fillys dancer who asserts she is simply exercising on private property.
The video showed
Mattes in thong-like bottoms and a sports top, dancing — perhaps
exercising — in her driveway with a chair.
Concerned neighbor
Sherri DesEnfants provided a running commentary.
"See, see. There
she is bending over, spanking herself, spanking herself … I don't
know what kind of exercise that is," said DesEnfants. "We're here for
our children. Our (complaints) have not been taken seriously by law enforcement.
Is one person's rights more important than a whole community's?"
Mattes, who was not
available for comment and has an unlisted telephone number, has been dancing
in a "G-string" on her front lawn for two years, according to neighbors.
However, Mattes and her attorney assert she is "just exercising" in a
body suit, which is within her constitutional rights.
"I call it exercise,"
said Mattes' attorney Bill Wendling. "It really doesn't matter what she's
doing out there as long as she's not breaking any decency statutes. Nobody
has told her to stop."
The fuzzy line of
decency vs. indecency is something the county commission, law enforcement
and the Tippecanoe County prosecutor are attempting to sort out.
According to the
Tippecanoe County Sheriff's Department, public indecency involves a person
who knowingly or intentionally does one or several of the following in
a public place: 1) engages in sexual intercourse, 2) engages in deviant
sexual conduct, 3) appears in the state of nudity, or 4) fondles his or
her own genitals or someone else's genitals.
The "state of nudity"
is defined as the exposition of the human male or female genitals, the
pubic area or buttocks, with less than a fully opaque covering. Nudity
also includes showing breasts or nipples.
But, according to
state law, intentional nudity or public indecency is only a felony when
it's in public space.
Whether Mattes' dancing
in the public view can be construed as "public space" is still in question,
and Tippecanoe County prosecutor Jerry Bean is reviewing the case.
The county commission
did not pass any ordinances or propose action Monday, but they did vocalize
their sentiments.
"It's absolutely
disgusting. It's embarrassing. It's appalling; I don't know what else
you can tag on it," said commissioner Kathleen Hudson.
Commissioner John
Knochel viewed the routine as a little more innocuous. "It was a little
risqué, but by no means did I see that she was breaking the law,"
he said.
Concerned neighbor
Cynthia Tucker appealed to Mattes to "clean up her act" for the community.
"Keep it in the house, keep it in the club, put it behind a fence," said
Tucker.
Other neighbors in
support of Mattes said it's not local government's place to be passing
ordinances in regards to this situation.
"It is her right,"
said John Steele. "Part of my military service was fighting for that right.
There should be no law on the books … because then it's about anybody
who is sunbathing on their lawn. If she was doing something wrong, she
would have been arrested two years ago."
Jeff Taylor, another
supporter, said nobody has ever asked Mattes to stop. "If somebody would
have actually asked her to stop, she probably would have stopped or compromised,"
said Taylor.
DesEnfants said Mattes'
constitutional rights are infringing on her ability to choose what her
children see and don't see.
"Our elementary and
high school busses pass by daily," she said. "This may not be illegal,
but surely there are some boundaries. It's something you would normally
have to pay to see."
Following the county
commissioner's meeting, Mattes' attorney said people need to start being
careful of how they characterize this situation. Wendling said people
are free to criticize and be concerned, but there are boundaries. When
you start alleging criminal activity or sexual misconduct, Wendling said
the characterizations could constitute libel or slander.
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