Cleveland Prostitution Lawyer

It applies to several different types of conduct, from operating a brothel to soliciting a person for prostitution. Regardless, criminal charges involving prostitution are taken extremely seriously and can have serious penalties. For instance, when the person involved in a promoting prostitution case is a minor, the charge becomes a third degree felony, with a five year maximum sentence. At Patituce & Associates, LLC, our Cleveland prostitution attorneys defend clients who are facing such charges.

If you or a family member need assistance, call our Cleveland prostitution lawyers today at (440) 471-7784 for a free consultation. We have 70+ years of experience and are ready to help.

What Is Compelling Prostitution (O.R.C. 2907.21)?

Compelling prostitution is charged when Cleveland prosecutors believe that they can prove that you compelled or facilitated another person to engage in sex for hire. The penalties for compelling prostitution are especially serious when the person involved is a minor, or is someone you believed to be a minor.

Under the statute, the following acts are prohibited:

• Compelling someone with the use of force, intimidation, fear, or duress to participate in sex for hire
• Facilitating a minor to engage in sex for hire
• Paying or agreeing to pay a minor to participate in sex for hire
• Paying or agreeing to pay a minor after they participated in sex for hire
• Allowing a minor as their parent, guardian, or other authority in control to engage in sex for hire

As a base charge, compelling prostitution is third degree felony with a sentence of up to five years. When minors between the ages of 16 and 18 are involved, it is a second degree felony with a sentence up to 8 years. When the minor is under the age of 16, it will be a first degree felony with penalties up to 10 years in prison.

What Is Promoting Prostitution (O.R.C. 2907.22)?

Individuals who knowingly engage in any of the following may be charged with promoting prostitution:

• Establish, maintain, operate, manage, supervise, control, or have an interest in a brothel
• Transport another person, or cause them to be transported, across state or county boundaries in order to facilitate the other person participating in sexual activity for hire
• Supervise, manage, or control the activities of a prostitute in engaging in sexual activity for hire
• Induce or procure another person to engage in sexual activity for hire

Promoting prostitution is a fourth degree felony, carrying a sentence of up to 18 months in prison. If any prostitutes involved in the activities related to the charge are minors, whether or not you know their age, then promoting prostitution will be charged as a third degree felony; you may face up to 5 years in prison. With the penalties for promoting prostitution this serious, you have to bring in the most effective legal defense available.

Enticement or Solicitation to Patronize a Prostitute;
Procurement of a Prostitute for Another (O.R.C. 2907.23)

Enticement or solicitation to patronize a prostitute; procurement of a prostitute for another covers several types of conduct and applies penalties according to the specific conduct in your case.

• Procuring a prostitute for another is a first degree misdemeanor
  • Maximum sentence of 180 days
• If the prostitute is 16 or 17 years old, the charge is a fifth degree felony
  • 6-12 months in prison
• If the prostitute is under the age of 16, procuring is charged as a fourth degree felony
  • Maximum sentence of 18 months

Where age is an issue, it is not a defense that you didn't know the person was underage. All of the above are extremely serious charges with penalties that can not only land you in jail, but can damage your career and personal relationships.

Our Cleveland prostitution defense lawyers know how to defend clients against solicitation and prostitution charges so call (440) 471-7784 for a free consultation.