Snowman with explicit parts stirs up controversy in Idaho Falls neighborhood - East Idaho News
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Snowman with explicit parts stirs up controversy in Idaho Falls neighborhood

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IDAHO FALLS — A snowman displaying male genitalia caused outrage in an Idaho Falls neighborhood over the weekend resulting in a visit from the police.

Several people called the Idaho Falls Police Department Saturday to complain about a snowman with an explicit depiction of male genitalia at a home on Ironwood Drive. Officers went to the house, informed the residents that neighbors were concerned and asked the homeowners to modify the snowman.

IFPD spokeswoman Jessica Clements said officers informed them of Idaho’s Public Display of Offensive Sexual Material Statute and that the snowman may fit under that code.

Under the law, people who display in public places “human genitals or pubic areas without a full opaque covering, or any graphic or pictorial depiction thereof, or any depiction of covered male genitals in a discernibly erect state” may be guilty of a misdemeanor.

The residents agreed to modify the snowman and were not charged.

Neighbors were concerned because the home is close to Fox Hollow Elementary School and parents were worried their children may see the snowman before or after school.

“It was supposed to be like a joke,” a woman living at the home told EastIdahoNews.com Monday. “The police station got a lot of phone calls and so we had a couple of cops come over and they’re like, ‘That’s a misdemeanor.'”

The woman said she and her teenage son didn’t know building a snowman with an explicit depiction of male genitalia was a crime and this is the first time they’ve done such a thing.

“I wouldn’t let it happen again,” she said. “I feel bad. I didn’t even think twice about it because it was all a joke…It’s been a horrific week for us just because of all of it.”

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