"lewd walking"

[Joel S. Berson]

A Taunton, Mass., city councilor was arrested today for (as I heard
it on the TV broadcast) "lewd walking".  I wonder how long that
statute has been in the books of the Bay Colony.

Disappointingly, the TV station's on-line news item has a different
report -- he is "facing charges of lewd and lascivious behavior."
http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/local/BO141564/

There the description of the offending act is "As the two men walked
down a path, police said Barbour asked the officer to expose himself.
Officers then made the arrest.  Barbour is facing charges of lewd and
lascivious behavior."  Perhaps some superior officer decided "lewd
walking" would be hard to prove, and changed the charge.

I did not find a crime of "lewd walking" in the Massachusetts General Laws, at
http://www.mass.gov/legis/laws/mgl/mgllink.htm
but I was amused to see what they had to say about "lewd" in other contexts.

Joel

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