Harrington’s first spat with local authorities came in 2003 when she posted topless photos of herself on her website. Authorities charged her with the same offense — public indecency. The case garnered national media attention from outlets that included CNN, USA Today and NBC’s “Tonight Show.”
The recent case stems from a public nudity citation that Harrington, 24, received after hosting a wet T-shirt contest at Cheerleaders bar. While public nudity is illegal in Lincoln, Harrington claims she was wearing opaque pink latex paint over her nipples, creating a de facto pastie in accordance with the law, which requires that the areola and nipple be covered.
Police officers did not agree with Harrington and charged her with violating the city’s public decency ordinance at her home the next day — not at the scene.
According to Harrington, because of her notoriety, local police follow her to events and station undercover officers inside the venue to spot any decency violations.
Harrington’s website camera crew filmed the event, and the tape will be used in court on appeal to help prove Harrington’s case that her nipples were obscured. Harrington told XBIZ that the police officer said, “Her nipple looks covered to me.”
In her ruling, Lancaster County Judge Jean Lovell said that the paint was not good enough to comply with the law, which mandates that the areas be opaque — not clear.
About her sentence, Harrington wrote on GFY.com, “I guess I would say it’s about what I expected, but I still plan to file the appeal on Monday for both the conviction and the sentence because I still think it was crap. This may take up to a year to get resolved so I will go ahead and get my probation out of the way in the meantime. I also almost have my lawsuit ready to file I hope within the next 10 days it will be done.”
After the 2003 incident, Harrington posed for layouts in Maxim, FHM and Playboy. In 2004, she was named Gallery magazine’s Girl Next Door of the Year.
Harrington was facing up to eight months in jail or a $500 fine.
“I’m not going to stop now that we’ve come this far,” Harrington said. “I’m going to see this through till the end. I’m from a small conservative town and I have to fight for my rights and for others down the road.”
Under the terms of her probation, Harrington cannot host events at bars.