Casey LaCaze-Lachney was enjoying a music festival with her family on June 11 in the 90-degree Louisiana heat when three officers came up to her and handed her a ticket, she said on TikTok.
It was a citation for indecent exposure.
LaCaze-Lachney, who lives in Winnfield, shared her story on her TikTok @Kazzi112, ticket in hand and dressed in the same outfit she says she was fined for wearing to the Dugdemona Fest. The video, titled “Make it make sense,” got more than 2.6 million views.
“All of my bits are covered. Are you kidding me? At a family event where there’s alcohol being literally handed out for free and three female cops came up to me and gave me a ticket,” LaCaze-Lachney said in her video.
In the TikTok video,LaCaze-Lachney is wearing denim shorts with a bejeweled belt and a black ribbed crop top with short sleeves. The shirt had an extra piece of fabric that was tied in the back, the video showed.
@kazzi112 Keep reporting and I’ll keep reposting!! You won’t shut me up! I did nothing wrong!!! #bs #faceit #offendedyet? ♬ original sound - Casey
According to a statement from the Winnfield Police Department, indecent exposure is considered “wear(ing) pants, trousers, shorts, skirts, dresses, or skorts in any public place or places open to the public which either intentionally exposes undergarments or intentionally exposes any portion of the pubic hair, cleft of buttocks, or genitals.”
Fines for violating the law range from $25 to $300, according to the police.
Officers also told LaCaze-Lachney that they had received complaints about her outfit at the festival, the statement said.
“I moved here in October and don’t know the officer that approached me,” LaCaze-Lachney told Shreveport Times. “I did feel targeted. I was not informed about complaints at the time of the citation so it’s unclear if it was actually driven by the community or if it was just the officers acting alone. I second guess everything I wear in public now.”
LaCaze-Lachney said on TikTok that when the officers came up to her in front of her family and two children, she offered to go home and change, but the police decided to cite her.
“It was hot, so I decided to wear it,” LaCaze-Lachney said on TikTok. “I’m not going to stand for it, I’m not going to sit quietly... I want justice.”
Indecent exposure is essentially an obscenity charge in Louisiana, which is classified as a felony, according to the website of Carl Bakemeyer, a Louisiana Obscenity Defense Lawyer.
LaCaze-Lachney plans to protest the fine in court and thanked TikTok users for the virtual support.
“Girl I was there, there were some girls wearing much less than you,” one commenter wrote.
“We’re still getting written up for clothes? Out of school?” Another person asked.
Meanwhile, the Winnfield Police Department said on Facebook it would not “engage in a social media war,” with anyone or organization regarding the incident.
Winnfield is about 106 miles southeast of Shreveport.
This story was originally published June 24, 2022 7:49 PM.
