Do Not Let The Police Define Who or What You Are, Get The Representation You Deserve
The police actively pursue prostitutes at all levels from street prostitution, to online advertisers, to escort services. If you have been accused of being a prostitute, your reputation is at stake.
Many of the people arrested as prostitutes are women, who haveother plans and ambitions. A conviction for prostitution can make it difficult to enroll in school, create child custody problems, affect your ability to get a loan, and make it difficult to rent an apartment.
Prostitution arrests usually occur in one of two ways: 1) observed behavior, and 2) prostitution stings.
Street Stings And Observed Behavior Prostitution Arrests
An observed behavior arrest occurs when a police officer claims that you were seen in a high prostitution area, acting like you were soliciting acts of prostitution, and then the officer followed you and an alleged John to a place where a sex act occurred. The police will infer that you are a prostitute if they find you nude with another person or performing a sex act. In most cases, the police will not see money change hands. The prosecution’s case is based entirely on the police officer’s observations and the statements made at the time of arrest. Police officer interpretations are subject to impeachment, because they are based on what the officer thought they saw and how they personally interpreted the scene.
The best thing that you can do is never talk to the police, beyond giving them basic identifying information. Any statement that you make will be used against you. If you did make a statement to the police, that statement can be objected to on the grounds that the police did not properly advise you of your rights, that you were coerced into making the statement, or the police made promises in exchange for the statement.
Prostitution Stings
Prostitution stings can occur either at the street level or based on some kind of advertisement of yours. It is a misconception that advertising on the internet is safer than working the streets. While street arrests probably occur more frequently, but the internet is an increasingly popular forum for police stings. It is common knowledge that the police use Craigslist for stings, but you should assume that the police are aware of sites like The Review Board (TRB), The TNA Board, The Back Page, Top Hat Reviews, and Eros. The police are also aware of escort services. Because most providers that advertise as escorts or on the internet, are careful about how they describe their services, the police will typically use more sophisticated sting tactics.
In any prostitution sting, there are a number of legal issues that provide the basis for a defense. The first issue is always entrapment. Because the police must approach you, it is important to determine whether you actually had criminal intent or actually planned to provide prostitution services. In prostitution stings, it is important to determine whether the police overstepped any boundaries and coerced, threatened, or behaved improperly towards the alleged prostitutes. For instance if the undercover officer engaged in a “courtship” of the alleged prostitute or engaged in sexual activity, there are issues, especially if the alleged prostitute felt threatened or coerced into sexual activity.
