Nude Model Speaks Out After Arrest: 'Nudity Being Bad Is A Mere Perception'
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- The woman who was photographed nude at a Monroeville shopping center last week says it wasn't her intention to offend anyone.
"Nudity being bad is a mere perception," says 21-year-old Chelsea Guerra.
The photoshoot in front of businesses at Miracle Mile Shopping Center on April 8 got her arrested.
"We decided to do it on the sidewalks right in front of the storefronts because we were trying to achieve an urbanized setting in our photography," Guerra said.
Guerra was posing for the photoshoot during a busy Saturday morning. Police say she was wearing only thigh-highs and heels.
She says she met the photographer, 64-year-old Michael Warnock, on Craigslist when she answered an ad looking for a nude model for a project.
"A lot of people are saying it was obscene for me to be nude in public, which I do understand," Guerra said. "My intent was not to blatantly be nude and offend people or children at the Miracle Mile. It was for the intention of making art."
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Police were called to the scene and made Guerra put her clothes back on. She and Warnock were taken to jail.
Guerra was charged with indecent exposure.
Warnock was charged with solicitation, conspiracy and drug possession. They'll appear in court in June.
"I had no idea Mr. Warnock had sedatives on him or I probably would not have wanted to work with him if I had known," Guerra said. "I just want people to know I am comfortable with my body, and nudity is not immoral. It shouldn't be looked at as criminal."