Southern California Attorneys Disclaimer: The California Personal Injury, Criminal Defense, DUI / Drunk Driving, Employment Litigation, Family Law or other legal information presented here should not be construed to be formal legal advice, nor the formation of a lawyer or attorney client relationship.

The following actions may result in a prostitution charge:

a) Any act committed with the intent to sexually arouse or gratify.

b) Loitering in or around any public toilet for purposes of engaging in or soliciting any lewd, lascivious, or unlawful act.

c) Loitering or wandering the streets or place to place without any apparent reason and refusing to identify or account for his or her presence when requested by any peace officer to do so.

The punishment for prostitution increases with prior convictions for the same offense.

A) One prior conviction will result in incarceration in the county jail for a minimum of 45 days. The court does not have the power to release a person who violates this subdivision from the obligation of spending at least 45 days in confinement in a county jail.
B) Two or more convicts will result in incarceration in a county jail for a minimum of 90 days.
C) Additionally, a court may suspend driving privileges for a maximum of 30 days if the prostitution was perpetrated within 1,000 feet of a private residence and with the use of a vehicle.
D) If intravenous drugs are implicated, the judge may additionally impose a $70 fine.
E) In lieu of the suspension, the court may order a restriction on the operation of a motor vehicle for up to 6 months. The court may allow the person to drive only in the vicinity of their employment.
F) Anyone arrested for prostitution who has tested positive for AIDS after a previous arrest will be charged with a felony.

If you or a loved one has been arrested and charged with prostitution, please contact Rizio & Nelson's experienced defense team immediately.

Solicitation of a prostitute is in reference to a person attempting to incite lewd conduct from another person. Solicitation to engage in lewd conduct is characterized by a specific intent to engage in that conduct. Specific intent is intent specifically seeking a particular result. In a prostitution case, the result is an act of lewd conduct. Lewd conduct is the specific intent to sexually arouse, gratify, annoy, or offend by soliciting someone to engage in conduct that involves the touching of genitals, buttocks, or female breasts.

Solicitation of prostitution conviction requires that the following elements be fulfilled, according to jury instructions given by a judge in a solicitation of prostitution case. CALJIC 16.420 partly reads:

"In order to prove this crime, each of the following elements must be proved:

1. a person solicited another to engage in any act of prostitution; and
2. that person did so with the specific intent to engage in an act of prostitution.
3. In addition to the agreement, the person did an act in furtherance of prostitution."

An agreement to engage in an act of prostitution itself is not enough in and of itself, there must also be an act that is done in furtherance of committing prostitution. Acts done in furtherance include verbal comments, such as price negotiation, questions regarding condoms, and locations to engage in said sex acts. It could also refer to overt acts, such as agreement to sex or negotiation done with physical actions instead of words. An example of this would be the taking off of clothing, retrieving a condom, exchanging money, or getting into a car after accepting the offer of an individual to engage in an act of prostitution. The court will interpret solicitation on an overall basis for the circumstances.

If you or a loved one has been arrested and charged with soliciting a prostitute, please call Rizio & Nelson's experienced team of defense attorneys immediately.