Lots of shrinks say that if you have a fear, the best way to get rid of it is to do exactly what it is you’re afraid of — Unless your fear is public nudity. Probably best not to use immersion therapy on that one.

Clifford John Candy, 30, of Brisbane, Australia has been caught exposing himself 19 times in the past 10 years. And worse yet, the dude mainly flashes his naughty bits to children. But hey, he says there’s a good reason for it: it’s all been an effort to combat his fear of being naked in public.

“I became addicted to chasing down that fear,” he said during a recent court appearance for exposing himself to a 7-year-old girl on the beach. “I confronted [the phobia].”

The judge declared that “absurd,” adding, “Any member of the community would think what you were doing was not right.”

But Candy had a good answer for that too: “I was waving it about … like a flag.”

His lawyer says he feels regret and shame after every incident, but the legal system has had about enough and may toss him in jail this time. And that’s a place you really don’t want to let your “flag” flutter in the breeze.

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