Prostitution

Know Your Rights…Know The Law

Any New York criminal defense attorney can tell you that a charge or offense related to escort services evolves from the crime of Prostitution. Prostitution, New York Penal Law 230.00, is a crime that is punishable as a “B” misdemeanor. What this means to the man or woman who allegedly sells his or her body for sexual relations, if convicted your exposure in jail is as much as 90 days. Regardless of whether you are incarcerated in the Rockland County Jail, Westchester County Jail or the notoriously dangerous Rikers Island, any of this temporary “housing” is far worse than the seediest motel you would never consider renting. Whether you are involved in a high-end escort service agency that operates through websites and records transactions on client credit card as interior decorating or some other non-existent business, you walk the literal and proverbial streets, or you are an independent service provider offering GFE services, the criminal charge is the same.

Prostitution: Understanding NY PL 230.00

Maybe an inappropriate word, there is nothing overly convoluted nor “sexy” about the crime of Prostitution in NY. Fairly simply, you are guilty of Prostitution, NY PL 230.00, when you engage or agree or offer to engage in sexual conduct with another person in return for a fee. The size or amount of the fee or the extent of the sexual conduct is irrelevant as long as it meets the legal standard.

• NYS Escort Services, Prostitution and Unlicensed Massage Information Page

What constitutes “sexual conduct” for the purpose of Prostitution? In many if not most arrests in NYC or elsewhere in the Hudson Valley, the allegation of sexual conduct will be clear. However, is the law violated if you put on an erotic show for a paying customer? Maybe that customer paid you to let him or her touch your breasts either on top of or under your shirt. In the alternative, you were paid for a lap dance, but ultimately you allowed your client to expose himself and rub his penis or her vagina against you. Do these activities constitute “sexual conduct” and, therefore, violate NY Penal Law 230.00? Are you, an accused legally a prostitute as define by the New York criminal law?

New York Penal Law Article 230, the section that deals with Prostitution in the New York Penal Code, does not define “sexual conduct.” For the purposes of this statute, “sexual conduct” is defined in other articles and interpreted by judges. As applied to offenses relating to Prostitution, courts throughout NYS seem to agree that “oral sexual conduct,” “anal sexual conduct,” “masturbation” and “sexual intercourse” fall within this definition. Therefore, while the first two hypothetical scenarios appear not to involve sexual conduct, the last one – allowing a person to rub his or her genitalia on you for gratification – appears to fall into the category. While the analysis of these scenarios is fact specific, each case is different and requires the review of a skilled criminal defense attorney familiar with Prostitution laws in New York, don’t rely on any website to advise or instruct you on criminal conduct. In fact, a lap dance for a fee, while usually not falling within the realm of prostitution, may be prosecuted as a crime of Prostitution if there is excessive contact of the genitals even if clothed.

Due to the countless fact specific details of a case, you owe it to yourself to retain an experienced New York criminal defense attorney to represent you if you find yourself charged with Prostitution. With crippling collateral consequences to professionals or foreign nations who enjoy this life style on the “side” or engage in prostitution offenses as a means to earn living, you can never be too cautious or best protect your life and future without the right legal counsel.

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Former prosecutor in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, the New York criminal lawyers at Saland Law have the experience, knowledge and advocacy skills to best fight for your rights and integrity while securing the colure of your criminal case that you need.

Call the Prostitution and Escort crimes defense lawyers and former prosecutors at (212) 312-7129 or contact us online today.