The crackdown on prostitution in Santa Ana has intensified, making many arrests. When you have been picked up or arrested for offering someone compensation in exchange for a lascivious act, or you agree to engage in a lewd act for money, you will feel embarrassed, exhausted, and overwhelmed. Further, a conviction for prostitution & solicitation will result in loss of employment, respect from society, and marriage. On top of these consequences, you risk probation, jail time, and payment of hefty fines.

At the California Criminal Lawyer Group, we understand that you want to wake up from this nightmare you are in, so we are ready to defend against these offenses compassionately. Our lawyers will help figure out how to beat the charges and avoid the life-changing consequences.

Legal Definition of Solicitation

California PEN 653f criminalizes:

  • The act of soliciting someone to commit a crime listed under the criminal solicitation law
  • Intending on the individual to commit the crime and
  • The individual being solicited receives communication or is aware of your request

You must understand that not all offenses are outlined under PEN 653f, including solicitation of prostitution and lewd conduct.

In the prostitution context, solicitation refers to a request to another person to commit a crime of prostitution. The laws covering prostitution are outlined under a different Penal Code, PC 647(b), from those of solicitation, which makes the two separate offenses under the umbrella of sex offenses.

California Prostitution and Solicitation Laws

Today, with the change in cultural morals, you can easily assume that prostitution is legal or less prosecuted nationwide. Nonetheless, this is not the case. Prostitution has been around for a long time, although there were no laws to discourage the offense. However, in 1961, California adopted PEN 647 to crack down on prostitution. In 1986, agreeing to prostitution was also criminalized. The new changes targeted prostitutes who could quickly conform to their customer’s demands, knowing that they would not be arrested or convicted even if the client was an undercover police officer. So, the changes led to an increase in the number of arrests related to prostitution.

According to PEN 647 (b), prostitution is the exchange of compensation for sexual or lascivious acts. Lewd acts, in this case, refer to the touching of genitals, female breasts, or buttocks of a prostitute or client with body parts of the other individual for sexual satisfaction or arousal. A prostitute, in this case, refers to a person who engages in sexual or lewd acts for money or compensation. PEN 647(b) prohibits:

  • Engaging in prostitution acts
  • Soliciting a prostitution act
  • Agreeing to participate in prostitution

Therefore, the prosecutor must prove the case’s facts beyond reasonable certainty for a conviction to occur. To help you understand these elements better, our attorneys have discussed them below:

Involvement in Prostitution

The law deems you to have engaged in a prostitution act when you deliberately engage in sexual contact or a lewd with another party for money or reimbursement, whether products or services. Acting willfully or knowingly in this setting means you are involved in the transaction on purpose. Whether you intended to take part in a violation of the law is not essential.

Soliciting Prostitution

You solicit prostitution when you request someone else to be involved in sexual intercourse or lewd act for compensation and your purpose to proceed with the action after solicitation. In these cases, the defendant could be the prostitute or the client, based on who started the conversation. You will be guilty of solicitation if there are clear indications you wanted to participate in the act.

The prosecution will prove intent by demonstrating that you offered money, a good, or service for a lewd or sexual act. The prosecuting lawyer having to show specific intent protects you from a solicitation conviction for offenses like:

  • Nodding to a stranger
  • Standing or being present in a particular location famous for prostitution
  • Wearing specific attires
  • Waving to a passing car

However, you could be convicted for solicitation even by soliciting someone other than the prostitute to participate in a sexual act, soliciting an undercover officer pretending to be a prostitute or soliciting a prostitute who declines your offer.

Agreeing to be Involved in Prostitution

Before the recent adjustments in PEN 647(b), the prosecution could only find you guilty if you were involved in the prostitution act or soliciting prostitution. The law never penalized agreeing to participate in the action. The amendments made it harder for prostitutes to escape the charges because agreeing to the customer’s demands amounts to prostitution.

Therefore, you will face solicitation charges when you offer to participate in prostitution. When you accept a customer’s offer, you will face charges for agreeing to involve in prostitution. However, before the prosecuting lawyer convicts you under this element, they must demonstrate to the court that you intended to proceed with the act. The facts the prosecutor must prove are:

  • That you, the defendant, agreed to participate in sexual intercourse for money with another party
  • That you planned or intended to involve in the act with the individual
  • You engaged in the conduct of furtherance of the crime

For the third fact, acts in furtherance of prostitution include:

  • Obtaining or procuring money for the payment
  • Withdrawing cash from an ATM
  • Traveling to the agreed location to participate in the sexual act
  • Possession of particular items like condoms or client book
  • Ordering a customer to undress after they have agreed to the solicitation

The prosecuting lawyer must prove the acts in furtherance beyond a reasonable doubt to obtain a conviction. When the prosecutor fails to prove that after agreeing to the prostitution act, you engaged in another action in furtherance or to add to the commission of the lewd or sexual act for money, your efforts will amount to the solicitation, and you will not face a different charge. With insufficient evidence to prove an act in furtherance, the counts for agreeing to be involved in prostitution will be dropped.

The 2016 amendments in PEN 647(b) by SB 1322 made it impossible for minors below 18 to face prostitution charges. When a minor is apprehended or picked up during a crackdown for prostitution, they will be deemed to have been sexually exploited. Therefore, the juvenile will not be sentenced to jail or juvenile hall. They will be considered court dependents and placed under provisional custody as an alternative. While on short-term care, the court can issue an order to put the juvenile in emergency housing or with an immediate family member for 15 days.

Criminal Penalties for Prostitution and Solicitation

Under PC 647(b), prostitution & solicitation are filed as misdemeanor offenses. The penalties for the crime depend on whether it is your first offense or whether or not a crime occurred. When it is your first time to be apprehended and charged with the offense, a conviction will result in:

  • No more than half a year in jail
  • Up to one thousand dollars in monetary court fines

You will face stiffer penalties if you have a prior PEN 647(b) violation charge or conviction. Prostitution and solicitation are priorable offenses meaning the penalties become stiffer for subsequent offenses. The penalties for a second crime are:

  • Compulsory jail sentence of not less than forty-five days
  • A mandatory county jail sentence of at least ninety days

The penalties of the crime also differ based on where the prostitution or solicitation took place. When the offenses occur in a car or residential area, you will face additional penalties. For instance, if you are picked up for engaging in prostitution in your vehicle, you will be required to forfeit the automobile. Additionally, your driving privileges will be suspended for up to thirty days or restricted for no more than six months. You can only drive to specific areas like work or school during the restriction period.

In California, a sex crime conviction results in the condition to list as a sex offender. Luckily, with prostitution and solicitation, registration as a sex offender is not required, primarily when the crime was committed for sexual arousal or gratification.

Possible Legal Defenses for PEN 647(b) Violation Charges

On top of the criminal penalties, a conviction for prostitution and solicitation will seriously affect your personal, professional, and social life. Therefore, it is wise to hire a lawyer to represent you in the case. At the California Criminal Lawyer Group in Santa Ana, we will evaluate your case and find the best possible defenses that will help have the charges reduced or dismissed. Luckily, there are several defense strategies our attorneys can apply to obtain a positive outcome. These are:

  1. Insufficient Evidence

The state has the burden of proving beyond reasonable doubt that a crime was committed. In most PEN 647(b) violation charges, reliable evidence is usually insufficient to show your conduct at the time of the offense making the jury doubt whether you committed a crime. The argument can be used where you have been accused of solicitation or agreeing to the act of prostitution. There is no incriminating conversation or recorded statement in these cases, even though the police officer posing as a prostitute or customer in a sting operation should be wired. Without recorded incriminating information, it will be difficult for the prosecutor to provide enough evidence to show you solicited or agreed to be involved in prostitution. Because very little evidence is collected in these kinds of arrests, most case elements are not met, resulting in charge dismissal.

  1. Police Entrapment

You can argue entrapment if you were picked up during an undercover sting operation. Entrapment means the law enforcement adopted an overbearing behavior that induced you to commit a crime. This defense strategy is not always easy to prove. You need an experienced lawyer to demonstrate to the court that the officer’s conduct would have induced even a sober or law-abiding citizen in your situation to take part in prostitution and solicitation. You must show that the officers created more than an opportunity for you to commit a crime.

You should use this defense if the officers engaged in any of the following conducts:

  • Flattering
  • Insisted and constant requests
  • Badgering or intimidating you into agreeing to sex
  • Friendship requests or sympathy
  • An offer of something more than the standard benefits
  • An assurance by the officers that you are not breaking the law
  • Repeatedly soliciting you even after saying no to the advances

When it comes to prostitution undercover sting operations, officers use decoys. They pose as prostitutes or clients to bust you in the act. They will then attempt to lure you into prostitution or solicitation. Sadly, the officers' conduct can be overbearing, and when they cross the line, the sting operation turns into an entrapment. Therefore, if this is what happened in your case resulting in an arrest, you can claim that you were entrapped.

  1. False Allegations

You can be accused of PC 647(b) violation out of jealousy or revenge. Regardless of the reasons for the false accusations, you can always prove that you were unjustly accused. However, the defense will stand if you can demonstrate to the court the actual events that led to the allegations to convince them that your story and not that of the accuser is true.

  1. Lack of Intent

The intent is a critical element of this crime, and without it, the case will be dismissed. Therefore, if the prosecutor cannot prove the purpose of violating the law, you will not be guilty. For example, you can solicit prostitution services as a dare without any actual intentions of going through with the act. Therefore, if there is no sufficient evidence demonstrating you were interested in committing the offense, the court will not convict you of the crime.

Charge Reduction

A PEN 647(b) violation charge is not hopeless. Even when a conviction is imminent, your attorney can have the offense reduced to a lesser crime that attracts fewer penalties. And if you are convicted, you avoid stiffer prostitution and solicitation conviction penalties. Most charge reductions in these cases occur during plea bargaining between your defense team and the prosecuting team. You agree to plead guilty to a lesser offense to obtain a favor from the prosecuting lawyer like a charge reduction.

For instance, if you have been charged with a PC 647(b) violation, the prosecutor could reduce the charge to criminal trespass, disturbing peace, or lewd act in public. However, you must understand that trespass and disturbing peace are not related to solicitation and prostitution, but they could be used to tell your initial crime was prostitution. The advantage of charge reduction is that you avoid the humiliation and stigma of a PC 647(b) violation conviction even if you are convicted.

Related Offenses

A few offenses in California are related to solicitation and prostitution. These crimes are charged alongside or in place of PC 647 violation, and they are:

California Pimping

According to PEN 266h, pimping refers to willingly or deliberately making all or part of your income from someone else’s prostitution earnings. Primarily, the defendant in these cases sources clients for the prostitutes in exchange for a share in the profits. When charged with this offense, you can argue police entrapment to avoid a sentence.

California Pandering

As per PC 266i, an attempt to recruit or encourage an individual to remain a prostitute is known as pandering. Also, when you make another individual available for prostitution, you engage in pandering. The offense is more severer than prostitution and solicitation because it is a felony. You risk 36, 48, or 72 months in prison when convicted.

Aiding a Prostitute

As per PEN 653.23, it is a crime to aid, direct or supervise someone else to commit the crime of solicitation or prostitution. For instance, if you lend your apartment to a friend to have sexual intercourse with a prostitute, you violate PC 653.23. Whether you aid or supervise a prostitute, you will face misdemeanor penalties. When convicted, you risk up to half a year jail sentence and court fines of no more than $1000.

Loitering to Commit Prostitution

PEN 653.22 defines loitering in public places with the intent to participate in prostitution. The penalties for this offense are the same as those of a PC 647(b) violation.

Human Trafficking

As per PC 236.1, it is unlawful to deprive individuals of their liberty to contravene specific California statutes on sexual abuse of children and commercial sexual conduct. Compared to PC 647(b) violation, human trafficking is a stricter offense that attracts felony penalties. Based on your case’s nature, you can even face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

Lewd Act in Public

PEN 647a criminalizes engaging in or soliciting a lascivious act in a public setting. When you are picked up for prostitution and solicitation, you can face the charges alongside a PC 647a violation. Streetwalkers and their clients are the common defendants in these cases, but because police observe them from afar before an arrest, it becomes difficult to prove you were engaging in a lewd act in public.

Note that PC 647a violation is a lesser offense and attracts lesser penalties when convicted. Therefore, if you have been charged with prostitution and solicitation, you can petition the court to reduce the charge to PC 647a for a lenient sentence.

Indecent Exposure

According to PC 314, it is a crime to expose your private parts. In these cases, the prosecutor must demonstrate that you exposed your genitals to catch the public’s eye or attention. Particular conduct during prostitution and solicitation can trigger these charges. Nonetheless, when prostitution happens in a secluded place or inside a car, it cannot amount to indecent exposure. A conviction will result in an additional and subsequent six months in jail on top of your original sentence when charged with both offenses.

California Efforts to Legalize Prostitution

Efforts are currently ongoing to legalize prostitution. One of these efforts is the Senate Bill 357, adopted to prevent punishing individuals charged with loitering in public to engage in sexual activity for profits.

Also, to fight human trafficking, the legislature is thinking of legalizing prostitution. The thinking behind this effort is that by making prostitution legal, pimps can no longer coerce or threaten prostitutes with arrest to keep trafficking them. Other states contemplating the idea are Maine and Oregon.

Sex Workers Protection

After the passage of SB 233, it has become impossible for police to use possession of condoms as probable cause for prostitution and then pick you up for solicitation or loitering. Before this bill, police used to make many arrests because someone was carrying condoms. However, after the bill's adoption, the number of prostitution arrests has significantly reduced because police can no longer use condom possession as a probable cause for apprehension. Also, sex commercial workers are safer now that they can carry condoms without fear of self-incrimination.

Furthermore, the new law offers immunity to commercial sex workers from specific low-level crimes when they report severe crimes to the authorities. Before the passage of this law, sex workers were afraid of reporting severe crimes for which they were victims or witnesses for fear of being prosecuted for:

  • Prostitution and solicitation
  • Misdemeanor drug crime
  • Lewd acts in public
  • Loitering in public to be involved in prostitution
  • Creating or maintaining a public nuisance

With the law protecting sex workers from the above charges, now they can report severe crimes like:

  • Human trafficking
  • Stalking under PEN 646.9
  • Sexual battery
  • PEN 518 extortion
  • Serious felony
  • Assault with a deadly weapon
  • Assault with great bodily injury
  • Assault with a firearm

The new law allows commercial sex workers to freely report pimps or clients who abuse them without self-incrimination fear.

Find an Experienced Orange County Sex Crimes Attorney Near Me

Prostitution and solicitation are crimes you do not want to be convicted of because of the social stigma and embarrassment that comes with them. Additionally, the offense attracts severe court fines, jail time, and other restrictions on your liberty. An experienced lawyer can help you build a strong case and reduce the negative impact. Contact the California Criminal Lawyer Group in Santa Ana today at 714-844-4151 for a free case evaluation.