Pittsburgh’s vice squad has female and male undercover detectives working the streets, and every year they, along with other vice squad officers, make hundreds of arrests for prostitution. If you are arrested for buying or selling sex, you can face a jail sentence, fines and an extremely stressful experience.
Prostitution Charges in Pennsylvania
In Pennsylvania, prostitution and hiring a prostitute are both a crime — and they are punished equally.
If you are found guilty of engaging in sex for money, loitering in a public place for the purpose of being hired for sexual activity, hiring a prostitute or making money from promoting prostitution, you risk being sentenced to one year in jail.
You will face a humiliating situation with many negative repercussions if your spouse or partner, employer, coworkers, and friends find out you solicited sex from an undercover detective or prostitute.
In Pittsburgh, if you are accused of hiring a prostitute you may have to attend a john school where county health department workers and former prostitutes will educate you on the consequences of prostitution.
You will have a criminal record that can negatively affect your ability to get a good job, join the military, obtain certain professional licenses, or be admitted to graduate school.
Prostitution And HIV/Aids
Pennsylvania views people who sell sex for money very harshly if they know they are HIV positive or have AIDS. If you are found guilty, you face a felony of the third degree. You can be sent to prison for up to seven years.
Promoting Prostitution
You can be charged with promoting prostitution if you own or manage a prostitution business, procure someone to be a prostitute, encourage someone to be or remain a prostitute, find a prostitute for a customer, find a customer for a prostitute, transport someone into or across Pennsylvania for prostitution, lease or allow property you control to be used for prostitution without trying to stop it — and/or make money doing any of these.
If you are sentenced for promoting prostitution, you can face up to three years in prison for a first offense.
Steps To Take If You Have Been Charged – Call a Pittsburgh Prostitution & Solicitation Lawyer
If you have been charged with a prostitution offense, whether you were soliciting sex for money or you were hiring a prostitute, your first step should be to immediately hire a lawyer. A prostitution charge can mean jail time and fines if convicted, not to mention a permanent criminal record. You also shouldn’t talk to the police or prosecutors unless your Pittsburgh sex crime attorney is with you.
If you have been picked up in an undercover operation, be especially cautious about anything you say because it is likely you are being recorded by the arresting officer.
When you meet with your lawyer, give them as much information as you can about what happened before and during your arrest.
Questions? Contact me.
Your rights are at stake and you need the best defense to keep them. I will fight using the strongest defense available to get your Prostitution charge reduced or dismissed so you can move on with your life.
