Mother Ticketed For Breast-feeding Son In Public Wants Apology

FORT COLLINS, Colo. -- A mother says she was humiliated and degraded when she was ticketed for breast-feeding her son at a Colorado swim beach and wants an apology -- even though the ticket has been voided.

The 43-year-old Berthoud woman was ticketed for indecent exposure on July 14 when she breast-fed her son at the Carter Lake swimming beach in Larimer County.

She was shielded from view by two umbrellas and a towel, her attorney said.

Officials voided the $50 ticket and explained that a ranger who issued the citation to the breast-feeding mother was inexperienced. Nevertheless, Dorian Ryan said she wants an apology.

"This isn't right. Women shouldn't be harassed for breast-feeding their children," Ryan said.

Colorado lawmakers agree. A law passed last year gives women the right to breast-feed anywhere she's allowed to be in public.

An inexperienced park ranger mistakenly issued the ticket, said Dan Rieves, manager of the Blue Mountain District, which oversees the beach.

The ticket stated that Ryan "knowingly exposed (her) genitals in a public arena" and the ranger warned her that if she continued to breast-feed her son, she would be asked to leave the park.

"It is outrageous for a mother to have been charged in this manner for simply nursing her infant child," said Ryan's attorney Mitchell Tacy.

Rieves said park officials have voided the ticket and a written apology would be sent Friday.

However, this was not Ryan's first brush with Carter Lake park officials regarding breast-feeding. One week before, Ryan was told that the park's ban on breast-feeding was meant to protect her and her children, as the policy would prevent perverts and Peeping Toms from frequenting the swim beach to look at mothers breast-feeding, Tacy said.

"There is a certain sick irony to park officials taking that position, then watching people through binoculars to see if they can spot this type of activity," said Tacy. "In Ryan's case, it appears that park officials were watching and waiting to see if she would breast-feed her infant son."

"The current situation is nothing short of harassment," Ryan said.

Additional Information:

Benefits of Breastfeeding
State Laws -- Look for C.R.S.25-6-302 regarding breastfeeding.