ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO/WQRF) — If you’re taking part in World Naked Gardening Day, you might want to consider whether it is legal to do so in order to avoid a potential indecent exposure charge.

World Naked Gardening Day is a day where gardeners tend to their plants and flowers while wearing no clothes or shoes. The goal is to connect to the origins of gardening and our natural relationship with Mother Nature.

In 2023, the festivities will kick off on Saturday, May 6.

The event is described as, “an annual tradition that celebrates weeding, planting flowers and trimming hedges in the buff.”

A question some may ask is, can you be arrested for public indecency if you’re naked gardening on your own property? Or, if you’re naked gardening in your own house with the window open and a neighbor sees you?

According to Illinois law, public indecency is always considered a sex crime, and there are two forms of public indecency that are against the law. One is having sex with another person in public. The other “a lewd exposure of the body done with the intent to arouse or to satisfy the sexual desire of the person.”

However, yes, you can be charged with indecent exposure in your own house or your own property if the intent of the act is to arouse sexual desire with the intention of being seen by others.

Being convicted of public indecency could result in a sentence of one year in jail and a fine of $2,500.

Persons younger than 16 are immune from prosecution for public indecency. Instead, a juvenile would likely get a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct for the same behavior.