Every day, people engage in various activities that may not strictly adhere to the rules but are generally perceived as innocent and acceptable. More folks than any police station could handle would be found guilty of jaywalking each day, and don’t get us started about messing with other people’s mail…

To learn about all those “invisible” or “innocent” crimes that we do commit without giving them too much thought, u/Wowthatscrazyyylmao recently pondered “What’s an innocent crime that people commit?” on r/AskReddit. And boy did they get some interesting answers that we’re excited to share with you.

#1

Trespassing. Trespassing is an intent crime where knowledge of trespassing isn’t required to be guilty or liable of trespassing. Simply intending to enter into land owned by another without permission, even on the mistaken belief that the land was public ,or that they had permission, or that they owned that part of the land, is not a valid defense against the fact of trespass.

We see this all the time when people are out walking around and cut through a parking lot as a means for short cutting their route. Many people think parking lots are inherently public property. But they are still owned by someone, that someone may choose to not allow unauthorized cut through, for safety reasons, maybe its a bank, or there’s a private event with a liquor license requiring only authorized individuals on the property. Either way, the property owner has that right. No need to post signs, but in order for a trespass to be arrestable, the offender must be informed, told to leave and either refuse to leave or return later and reaffend.

Image credits: NathanTPS

#2

Apparently being 5 years old and having a lemonade stand

Image credits: lightspinnerss

#3

What jurisdiction are we talking?

Because in Singapore chewing gum is a crime.

In Germany, if you run out of fuel on the Autobahn that’s a crime.

You can’t take a selfie beside a statue of Buddha in Sri Lanka.

Image credits: EveryoneIsADose

#4

jaywalking.

Image credits: frogs_69

#5

Picking up bird feathers. Obviously it’s not really a crime, but under the migratory bird act, because you can’t PROVE where you got it from, you also can’t prove that you didn’t poach it. It was made in response to massive bird poaching around the turn of the 1900s for women’s hats but… also massive amounts of bird hunting in general, which was causing the severe decline in hundreds of species. After all, we know what happened to the passenger pigeons. As a result it’s actually a severe crime (thousands and thousands of dollars in fines) to own bird feathers, but obviously it’s not one that’s actually convicted on much nowadays.

Image credits: MadameCat

#6

Selecting ‘I have read and agree to the terms and conditions’ without actually reading a single word. The biggest heist happening daily.

Image credits: Wpstar_it

#7

Piracy, especially when it comes to videogames. As time goes on games stop being sold and in some cases they are impossible to get except if you pay extremely inflated prices in the resell market. Often time companies won’t ever see another dime from that game, so it’s not really costing them any money. So why is it such a big deal?

Image credits: AwesomeEevee133

#8

A poor person stealing a small amount of baby food. I’d see it when I worked at a market and I’d just look the other way.

Image credits: Jugales

#9

putting prescription pills in a daily reminder case ( M T W TH F S S)

Image credits: krautspieler

#10

For the kids saying they’re old enough to make an account on a website/app while being to young.

Image credits: Vaporc_

#11

Apparently in the Aussie city of Brisbane sleeping in your car even if it’s due to fatigue is considered camping in public and thus illegal.

Image credits: Slavx97

#12

It’s illegal to pass out food to homeless people in some cities

Image credits: jarchack

#13

Exploring abandoned buildings. My old school shut down years ago and my friends and I used to walk around in there filming videos and audio and collecting stuff that got left behind (which was almost everything, the whole library was still the way it was when they left)

Image credits: Limp-Salamander6255

#14

Here in Japan, it’s illegal to hand your neighbour’s misaddressed mail to them. In practice, we all do it.

Image credits: Maso_TGN

#15

Rolling through stop signs. Ain’t no way we’re stopping for the full 3 seconds…

Image credits: slargle12

#16

as a server, not inputting my cash tips on my taxes; actually didn’t even know you even needed to do that until a few years ago, after i had been working in the food industry for well over six years. evidently, none of my coworkers were aware of this either

Image credits: lavaniani

#17

Paying to watch one movie, then watching another one before leaving the theater.

Image credits: NoblesCraig

#18

Running a red light late at night when there is absolutely no traffic in sight

Image credits: Content_Pool_1391

#19

Apparently getting abortion. F**k you GQP.

Image credits: alphamikedelta

#20

Inputing “no bags” at the self checkout at the grocery store to avoid the $0.10 fee

Image credits: FunPills

#21

In the US low effort speeding (1-10 mph over posted limits) is fairly common.

Image credits: Aezetyr

#22

Not really sure how innocent it is since it’s pretty much their State’s only real revenue source but just about everybody (who owns a car) from Vancouver, Washington shops in Portland, Oregon whenever they can in order to not pay Sales tax even though it’s illegal to not report/pay it as a Washington resident even when you are shopping out-of-State.

Image credits: RRW359

#23

Leaving the car unlocked when unattended. Like going in to pay for your fuel. Apparently illegal in Aus.

Image credits: MiddleConstruction84

#24

Tasting grapes in the grocery store

Image credits: Bizzlebanger

#25

I drive home from work in the middle of the night, and there’s one left turn I have to make at a red light every night that is infuriatingly badly timed for that hour. The pharmacy on that corner has been closed up for an hour by the time I get there and the parking lot is always empty, so driving through that to save myself 45 interminable seconds is as victimless a crime as one can commit, if it even is a crime.

Image credits: gorka_la_pork

#26

In Sweden, if a stone (anywhere) has ever been moved by a human and then left in the new place for more than 12 months it is illegal to move that stone again, because it has become a cultural artifact. This absurd law is actually enforced and creates a lot of problems for the people living in country side, but since laws are written by people in the cities it is not seen as a problem. The original reason for the law is to protect centuries old stonewalls. But because of how it is written it is used against people who for example temporarily move a stone to be able to reach that area. If the work is not finished within one year and the stone has not been moved in the mean time it is then illegal to move it back. Very innocent crime. Not a very innocent law, though. 

Image credits: GlobusGlobus

#27

Getting a fish drunk…

That’s an Ohio State law. It’s illegal to get a fish drunk.

Image credits: No_Hunt7394

#28

Smoking weed in most of the world

Image credits: Faded_chef

#29

Dropping something off in someone’s mailbox.

Image credits: CosmicCommando

#30

Lack of public facilities means i p**s were i p**s

Image credits: steroboros