Bad moon rising in Basin

Even the smallest communities can be susceptible to crack on their streets.

On April 12, Basin Police responded to a complaint of a man publicly exposing his buttocks near the Overland Express Mart in downtown Basin (pop. 1,200).

When contacted by an officer, the suspect explained that he was mooning his jailed brother. The man was cited for indecent exposure.

"Anything you can think of, people are going to try," said Basin Police Chief Dennis Peters.

Express Mart sits right across the street from the Big Horn County Jail -- a facility whose windows face the street.

Unfortunately, thanks to that set-up, unsanctioned peep shows for the jailbirds are not all that unusual.

"It's happened on several occasions," said Peters. However, he added, the incident was the first in memory that featured a male exposing himself to another male.

In total, since the jail's opening in 2002, there have been roughly a dozen nudity-related incidents Peters said. Since the windows face the road and not the rear other side, inmates can get a glimpse of the outside world by standing on their bunks. (A picture).

In fact, just hours after the display of brotherly love, jail staff reported another indecent incident -- this time from a female showing her, uh, support for her boyfriend. She was warned that her "conduct would not be tolerated."

Peters said Basin law enforcement and jail staff do their best to discourage streakers -- including citations and warnings. Flashing your favorite inmate can also lead to losing visitation privileges.

Further, "The jail does have (exterior) cameras," said Peters. "Most of them don't want the judge to see the videotapes."

Because if a judge does see the tapes, would-be nudists could find themselves dropping their drawers from a much closer distance -- the next cell over.

Basin is outside our normal reporting area, but this was so bizarre we thought it needed some more coverage (no pun intended).