KITCHENER - Jeffrey Shaver has been found not guilty of public nudity for wearing only a jockstrap in front of the Waterloo Region Courthouse in Kitchener.

But after acquitting Shaver on Friday, Justice Scott Latimer handed him a one-year court order forcing him to be clothed from knees to neck while at the courthouse. Shaver, 32, said he will appeal the order.

Waterloo Regional Police arrested the Cambridge man while he was wearing the jockstrap at the courthouse on Frederick Street during a protest on Sept. 13, 2017. Shaver said the modified jockstrap, which covered his genitals, pubic hair and between his buttocks, was no different than a woman's thong bikini.

"His provocative choice of outfit demonstrates an intention to draw attention to his cause, without concern for the resulting impact on the public peace," the judge said in an eight-page ruling.

"However, based on the evidence adduced before me, the public seems to have been largely unbothered by his public display of his posterior on the courthouse steps."

Public nudity is defined in the Criminal Code as being exposed to public view while "so clad as to offend against public decency or order." With Shaver, the Crown focused on public order.

"In the present case, the evidence of an actual disturbance of the peace, or public order, is somewhat anemic," the judge said. "Beyond his choice of attire, Mr. Shaver did nothing that could reasonably be called disturbing. He did not yell, accost or block anyone's path into the courthouse.

"He did not touch himself in any prurient manner. His actions did not manifest a notable outward reaction from the public, other than some bewildered looks and jokes made to the security staff."

Although Shaver was acquitted, Latimer issued a one-year peace bond ordering him to be dressed from knees to neck, front and back, while at the courthouse.

The judge noted it may have been "simply Mr. Shaver's good fortune" that his nearly naked protest did not affect anyone's "reasonable comfort and convenience" or trigger a disturbance of the public peace.

Shaver said in an interview he will appeal the peace bond order. He has been under the same clothing rules at the courthouse since his arrest but had hoped they would be dropped with his acquittal.

Shaver became famous in August 2017 when he wore skimpy green underwear and smoked a bong beside the courthouse while protesting the police seizure of his medical marijuana and bong at Cambridge Memorial Hospital in October 2016. The protest was picked up by international media.

He was arrested the following month when he dressed down even further at the courthouse. A video of his arrest was played at his public nudity trial. Police later returned his bong and weed.

Shaver, fully clothed in court, had been prepared to deliver closing arguments at his trial on Friday, but Latimer said there was no need.

Shaver had planned in his closing statement to refer to the 1960 song "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini" to draw parallels between his jockstrap and a thong bikini.

"That was going to be my opening remark, to try to get the song stuck in (the judge's) head," Shaver said with a laugh in an interview. He did make a brief reference to the song in arguments about the peace bond.

In his ruling, Latimer said the public nudity offence was written into the Criminal Code after "a procession of nude parades" took place in Western Canada in 1930. "These parades were organized by a radical religious sect who used flagrant public nudity as a means of demonstration.

"Eighty-seven years later ... Jeffrey Shaver staged a different form of demonstration. Standing on the steps of Waterloo Courthouse, clad only in sneakers and a multicoloured athletic supporter, he sought to draw attention to an earlier police seizure of his medical marijuana.

"He succeeded. His attendance garnered local and international attention, and his message was communicated by numerous news outlets.

"Less happily, his outfit also drew the attention of local police, who arrested him for breaching the public nudity offence. I have heard evidence and argument over the span of four court days. For the reasons that follow, I find him not guilty as charged."

So what's next for Shaver? Will he stage nearly naked protests at places other than the courthouse?

"Probably, yeah," he said.

gpaul@therecord.com

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Twitter: @GPaulRecord

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