Solicitation for prostitution is a criminal offense punishable as a misdemeanor. Most prosecutions originate from sting operations employed by the police to catch either the customer, referred to as a "john", or the prostitute. Two types of stings can be utilized. The first is an Internet sting that is usually placed on back page, Craigslist, city vibe or the like, in the adult entertainment and escort sections.
These operations are intended to catch the john looking for sex on the Internet. In Los Angeles, most operations use a fake ad created by a police officer which contains specific wording that can be later used as evidence of the user's intent such as sexually explicit wording. The second kind of undercover operation uses police that call real ads with the intent to catch the prostitute in the act. Attorney Matthew Ruff is very familiar with the tactics used by law enforcement and knows how to defend these types of crimes.
The crime of prostitution is actually made up of three different types of conduct that can be prosecuted under Penal Code section b. The offense can be proved one of 3 ways 1. The offender solicits another to commit and act of sex for money, 2. The accused enters into an agreement with another to engage in a sex act lewd act for money, they possess the requisite intent and they commit an act in furtherance of the agreement. The third and final way is the the District Attorney shows that two people actually engaged in an act of prostitution.
Regardless of the method, the party charged must have the specific intent to engage in an act of prostitution, whether or not the act was eventually carried out. Interestingly, with regard to the "act in furtherance", this can occur either before or after the agreement. Commonly, the act is proved by the police testifying that the charged individual entered a motel room or exchanged money. Pimping is another related crime associated with prostitution. The punishment for thus felony offense is quite harsh, therefore it is crucial to hire a lawyer who can obtain results.
Recently, Matthew was retained by a client arrested in an apartment used for prostitution. The client was booked on Pimping charges and given a Court date. Matt immediately reached out to the DA and commenced a strategy to get the charges dropped. He did just that, on June 14, he negotiated a deal to gave the charges reduced to a "disturbing the peace" as a misdemeanor with no probation. In one recent case, Mr. Ruff was retained by a young lady charged with PC b, otherwise known as solicitation.
