Woman Pleads Guilty to Exposing Breasts to Own Husband

A Utah woman has pled guilty to exposing her breasts to her own husband at home.

Tilli Buchanan, 27, took a plea deal on Tuesday to avoid being placed on the sex offender's register.

The complicated case, which has run on for three years, stemmed from an incident in which Buchanan and her husband were both working in their home topless, when her three stepchildren walked in. They told their mother, who reported it to police, which ultimately brought charges of misdemeanor lewdness involving a child.

On Tuesday the case was finally closed when Buchanan agreed to plead guilty to class B misdemeanor lewdness — but not to any charges involving children.

This meant the only thing she was guilty of was exposing her breast to another adult which "caused affront or alarm" — i.e. her own husband — who never pressed any charges.

Buchanan's attorney Randy Richards called the conclusion to the bizarre case "ludicrous".

"She would have loved to take it up on appeal," he told the Salt Lake Tribune. "But it was pretty much at my advice that she not — not because I don't think she would win, but there's a possibility that if we go all the way to trial, she'd be convicted by a jury and then she had to be on the sex offender registry."

The incident occurred in 2017 when Buchanan and her husband were installing drywall in their garage in Salt Lake City. She claimed they both removed their tops to prevent them from getting dirty, when her husband's three children walked in.

She told the children — two boys then-aged 13 and nine, and their ten-year-old sister — that there was no need to be embarrassed, and that there was no difference between her or their father being shirtless.

Her husband was not charged; thus Buchanan and her lawyers vowed to try to change the law that deems it okay for a man to be topless but not a woman.

"It was in the privacy of my own home," Buchanan said after a subsequent court hearing. "My husband was right next to me in the same exact manner that I was, and he's not being prosecuted."

The police account of what happened is a little different; they claim Buchanan removed her shirt and bra in front of the kids while under the influence of alcohol. They claimed she said she would only put her shirt back on if her husband exposed his penis.

Police were told about the incident by the children's mother, who said she was "alarmed".

"Because Tilli Buchanan is a woman — and only because she is a woman — the state now seeks to condemn her as a child sex offender for engaging in the exact same non-sexual conduct as her lawfully faultless husband," Richards said at that same hearing. "Tilli Buchanan is being singled out for prosecution solely on the basis of sex."

On Tuesday, Richards vowed to bring a civil lawsuit against West Valley City.

"This whole thing is ridiculous," he said. "She [or other women] have to worry about their kids seeing them topless? It's ridiculous."

However the city's attorney Ryan Robinson said: "This case has never been about nudity in one's home. Instead it is about the responsibility we have towards others," adding that the case was resolved "when Ms. Buchanan took responsibility for her actions."

Got a story or a tip for us? Email TooFab editors at tips@toofab.com.