Rochester Minnesota Prostitution Lawyer

Prostitution Attorney Minnesota

Prostitution, for the purposes of the Minnesota Statutes, means engaging or offering to engage in sexual penetration or contact for hire. In addition to being charged criminally, there are also civil penalties for a prostitution conviction, which may include vehicle forfeiture or notations in your driver’s license record.
As will be discussed below, these cases are not easy to prosecute unless there is a statement from the defendant admitting to doing something improper. If you have been charged with prostitution or if the police want to talk to you, contact our office immediately. Our first consultation is free. We will walk you through the process, explain your options, and zealously defend your rights. Contact our Rochester Minnesota Felony Defense attorney, to see how we can help.

Prostitution Charges

Prostitution charges are divided into several different misdemeanors crimes, the most common being:

• Solicitation to engage in prostitution (in a public place) – Gross Misdemeanor, minimum $1,500 fine
• Engaging, hiring or agreeing to hire a prostitute – Misdemeanor
• Loitering with intent to participate in prostitution – Misdemeanor

The following are felony level prostitution crimes:

• Soliciting, inducing or promoting prostitution, regardless of the prostitute’s age
• Engaging, hiring or agreeing to hire a prostitute under the age of 18.

Factors that Affect Prostitution Charges

There are three main factors that the statutes take into consideration in determining whether a prostitution offense is a misdemeanor or a felony:

• Age – Basically, if the prostitute is over 18, it is either a misdemeanor or a gross misdemeanor. If the prostitute is under 18, it is a felony. The penalties get significantly more severe depending on the age of the prostitute. The penalties are harshest for soliciting prostitution from a person under 13 years old, less so for soliciting prostitution from a person between 13 and 16 years old, and so on.
• Location – As noted above, the penalty is greater for engaging in prostitution in a public place or a vehicle.
• Function – The persons at the top of the prostitution chain are treated more harshly than those at the bottom. Thus, the penalties for the promoters are harsher than those for the patrons, which in turn are harsher than those for the prostitutes.

Entrapment and Police Methods

The era of the internet has enabled prostitution to evolve from street corners to computer screens. What that means is that police often lack direct evidence to build a strong prostitution case and must rely on tricks, and in some cases entrapment to produce evidence of the crime to be prosecuted.

Often police will pose as a prostitute online and agree to meet with a person. At the time of the arranged meeting, the police will arrest the person after getting him/her to make some sort of incriminating statement. If you find yourself in that position, you should call our law firm immediately. Do not make any more statements to the police. Without statements by the defendant, the police case is weakened and the likelihood of getting the charges dismissed increases significantly.

Sometimes police behavior in these cases can go so far as to constitute entrapment. To prove entrapment, one needs to show that the only reason a person broke the law was due to the police’s actions. It is not an easy proposition to prove, however, under specific circumstances, it can be proven and it can result in dismissal of the charges.

Contact Us Today For a Free Consultation

If you have additional questions about prostitution in Minnesota or if you have been unjustly charged, please contact the Dilaveri Law Firm today. We always offer free initial consultations to our clients. Call 507.206.6020 or complete our free case evaluation form.