Indecent exposure charges dropped in "naked pope incident" at Carnegie Mellon U.

Katherine O'Connor was in court Monday and rather than contest the charges, she agreed to perform 80 hours of community service.

O'Connor, 19, was naked from the waist-down at the April event, known as the "Annual Anti-Gravity Downhill Derby," which lampoons another event in which students push homemade vehicles, and encourages performance art.

After Monday's hearing, her attorney, Jon Pushinksky, told CBS Pittsburgh, "...my client was facing a serious charge and If she'd gone to trial and been convicted, there are certain legal ramifications that she may have some long-term implications." He continued, "She avoids all of that now and all of the charges will be withdrawn. She'll have no record whatsoever.

Under the deal, O'Connor and another Carnegie Mellon student, Robb Godshaw, 22, will have to put in the service hours before an Oct. 21 court appearance, when a magistrate will dismiss the charges against them, the American Civil Liberties Union said.

The ACLU said it was important that the criminal charges be dismissed against the students because they could have been listed as sex offenders in some states had they been convicted.

University police charged the two last month after Bishop David Zubik of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh complained privately to school officials about O'Connor's behavior, then publicly expressed concerns that it was intolerant of Catholicism.

Zubik was particularly upset because O'Connor had shaved her pubic hair in the shape of a cross.

The Rev. Ronald Lengwin, the diocesan spokesman, said Monday that the bishop did not want the woman's future to be impaired by the criminal charge.

"Our concern from the very beginning as articulated by the bishop was a lack of respect for the religious beliefs of others," Lengwin said. "He hoped this would be a learning experience for this young woman."