New York PROSTITUTION LAWS

§ 230.00 Prostitution.

A person is guilty of prostitution when such person engages or agrees or offers to engage in sexual conduct with another person in return for a fee.

Prostitution is a class B Misdemeanor.

§ 230.02 Patronizing a person for prostitution; definitions.

1. A person patronizes a person for prostitution when:

(a) Pursuant to a prior understanding, he or she pays a fee to another person as compensation for such person or a third person having engaged in sexual conduct with him or her; or

(b) He or she pays or agrees to pay a fee to another person pursuant to an understanding that in return therefor such person or a third person will engage in sexual conduct with him or her; or

(c) He or she solicits or requests another person to engage in sexual conduct with him or her in return for a fee. 

2. As used in this article, “person who is patronized” means the person with whom the defendant engaged in sexual conduct or was to have engaged in sexual conduct pursuant to the understanding, or the person who was solicited or requested by the defendant to engage in sexual conduct.

§ 230.03 Prostitution in a school zone.

1. A person is guilty of prostitution in a school zone when, being nineteen years of age or older, and acting during the hours that school is in session, he or she commits the crime of prostitution in violation of section 230.00 of this article at a place that he or she knows, or reasonably should know, is in a school zone, and he or she knows, or reasonably should know, that such act of prostitution is within the direct view of children attending such school.

2. For the purposes of this section, section 230.08 and section 230.19 of this article, “school zone” means (a) in or on or within any building, structure, athletic playing field, playground or land contained within the real property boundary line of a public or private elementary, parochial, intermediate, junior high, vocational, or high school, or (b) any public sidewalk, street, parking lot, park, playground or private land, located immediately adjacent to the boundary line of such school.

Prostitution in a school zone is a class A misdemeanor.

§ 230.04 Patronizing a person for prostitution in the third degree.

A person is guilty of patronizing a person for prostitution in the third degree when he or she patronizes a person for prostitution.

 Patronizing a person for prostitution in the third degree is a class A misdemeanor.

§ 230.05 Patronizing a person for prostitution in the second degree.

A person is guilty of patronizing a person for prostitution in the second degree when, being eighteen years old or more, he or she patronizes a person for prostitution and the person patronized is less than fifteen years old. 

Patronizing a person for prostitution in the second degree is a class E felony.

§ 230.06 Patronizing a person for prostitution in the first degree.

A person is guilty of patronizing a person for prostitution in the first degree when:

1. He or she patronizes a person for prostitution and the person patronized is less than eleven years old; or

2. Being eighteen years old or more, he or she patronizes a person for prostitution and the person patronized is less than thirteen years old.

Patronizing a person for prostitution in the first degree is a class D felony.

§ 230.07 Patronizing a person for prostitution; defense.

In any prosecution for patronizing a person for prostitution in the first or second degrees or patronizing a person for prostitution in a school zone, it is a defense that the defendant did not have reasonable grounds to believe that the person was less than the age specified.

§ 230.08 Patronizing a person for prostitution in a school zone. 

1. A person is guilty of patronizing a person for prostitution in a school zone when, being twenty-one years old or more, he or she patronizes a person for prostitution and the person patronized is less than eighteen years old at a place that he or she knows, or reasonably should know, is in a school zone. 

2. For purposes of this section, “school zone” shall mean “school zone” as defined in subdivision two of section 230.03 of this article.  

Patronizing a person for prostitution in a school zone is a class E felony.

§ 230.10 Prostitution and patronizing a person for prostitution; no defense.

In any prosecution for prostitution or patronizing a person for prostitution, the sex of the two parties or prospective parties to the sexual conduct engaged in, contemplated or solicited is immaterial, and it is no defense that:

1. Such persons were of the same sex; or 

2. The person who received, agreed to receive or solicited a fee was a male and the person who paid or agreed or offered to pay such fee was a female.

§ 230.11 Aggravated patronizing a minor for prostitution in the third degree.

A person is guilty of aggravated patronizing a minor for prostitution in the third degree when, being twenty-one years old or more, he or she patronizes a person for prostitution and the person patronized is less than seventeen years old and the person guilty of patronizing engages in sexual intercourse, oral sexual conduct, anal sexual conduct, or aggravated sexual conduct as those terms are defined in section 130.00 of this part, with the person patronized. 

Aggravated patronizing a minor for prostitution in the third degree is a class E felony.

§ 230.12 Aggravated patronizing a minor for prostitution in the second degree. 

A person is guilty of aggravated patronizing a minor for prostitution in the second degree when, being eighteen years old or more, he or she patronizes a person for prostitution and the person patronized is less than fifteen years old and the person guilty of patronizing engages in sexual intercourse, oral sexual conduct, anal sexual conduct, or aggravated sexual conduct as those terms are defined in section 130.00 of this part, with the person patronized.

Aggravated patronizing a minor for prostitution in the second degree is a class D felony.

§ 230.13 Aggravated patronizing a minor for prostitution in the first degree.

A person is guilty of aggravated patronizing a minor for prostitution in the first degree when he or she patronizes a person for prostitution and the person patronized is less than eleven years old, or being eighteen years old or more, he or she patronizes a person for prostitution and the person patronized is less than thirteen years old, and the person guilty of patronizing engages in sexual intercourse, oral sexual conduct, anal sexual conduct, or aggravated sexual conduct as those terms are defined in section 130.00 of this part, with the person patronized. 

Aggravated patronizing a minor for prostitution in the first degree is a class B felony.

§ 230.15 Promoting prostitution; definitions of terms.

The following definitions are applicable to this article:

1. “Advance prostitution.” A person “advances prostitution” when, acting other than as a person in prostitution or as a patron thereof, he or she knowingly causes or aids a person to commit or engage in prostitution, procures or solicits patrons for prostitution, provides persons or premises for prostitution purposes, operates or assists in the operation of a house of prostitution or a prostitution enterprise, or engages in any other conduct designed to institute, aid or facilitate an act or enterprise of prostitution. 

2. “Profit from prostitution.” A person “profits from prostitution” when, acting other than as a person in prostitution receiving compensation for personally rendered prostitution services, he or she accepts or receives money or other property pursuant to an agreement or understanding with any person whereby he or she participates or is to participate in the proceeds of prostitution activity

§ 230.19 Promoting prostitution in a school zone.

1. A person is guilty of promoting prostitution in a school zone when, being nineteen years old or more, he or she knowingly advances or profits from prostitution that he or she knows or reasonably should know is or will be committed in violation of section 230.03 of this article in a school zone during the hours that school is in session.

2. For purposes of this section, “school zone” shall mean “school zone” as defined in subdivision two of section 230.03 of this article.

Promoting prostitution in a school zone is a class E felony

§ 230.20 Promoting prostitution in the fourth degree.

A person is guilty of promoting prostitution in the fourth degree when he or she knowingly: 

1. Advances or profits from prostitution; or

2. With intent to advance or profit from prostitution, distributes or disseminates to ten or more people in a public place obscene material, as such terms are defined by subdivisions one and two of section 235.00 of this title, or material that depicts nudity, as such term is defined by subdivision one of section 245.10 of this part.

Promoting prostitution in the fourth degree is a class A misdemeanor.

§ 230.25 Promoting prostitution in the third degree.

A person is guilty of promoting prostitution in the third degree when he or she knowingly:

1. Advances or profits from prostitution by managing, supervising, controlling or owning, either alone or in association with others, a house of prostitution or a prostitution business or enterprise involving prostitution activity by two or more persons in prostitution, or a business that sells travel-related services knowing that such services include or are intended to facilitate travel for the purpose of patronizing a person for prostitution, including to a foreign jurisdiction and regardless of the legality of prostitution in said foreign jurisdiction; or

2. Advances or profits from prostitution of a person less than nineteen years old. 

Promoting prostitution in the third degree is a class D felony.

§ 230.30 Promoting prostitution in the second degree.

A person is guilty of promoting prostitution in the second degree when he or she knowingly: 

1. Advances prostitution by compelling a person by force or intimidation to engage in prostitution, or profits from such coercive conduct by another; or

2. Advances or profits from prostitution of a person less than eighteen years old. 

Promoting prostitution in the second degree is a class C felony.

§ 230.32 Promoting prostitution in the first degree.

A person is guilty of promoting prostitution in the first degree when he or she:

1. knowingly advances or profits from prostitution of a person less than thirteen years old; or 

2. being twenty-one years old or more, he or she knowingly advances or profits from prostitution of a person less than fifteen years old. 

Promoting prostitution in the first degree is a class B felony.

§ 230.33 Compelling prostitution.

A person is guilty of compelling prostitution when, being eighteen years old or more, he or she knowingly advances prostitution by compelling a person less than eighteen years old, by force or intimidation, to engage in prostitution.

Compelling prostitution is a class B felony.

§ 230.34 Sex trafficking.

A person is guilty of sex trafficking if he or she intentionally advances or profits from prostitution by:

1. unlawfully providing to a person who is patronized, with intent to impair said person’s judgment: (a) a narcotic drug or a narcotic preparation; (b) concentrated cannabis as defined in paragraph (a) of subdivision four of section thirty-three hundred two of the public health law; (c) methadone; or (d) gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) or flunitrazepan, also known as Rohypnol;

2. making material false statements, misstatements, or omissions to induce or maintain the person being patronized to engage in or continue to engage in prostitution activity; 

3. withholding, destroying, or confiscating any actual or purported passport, immigration document, or any other actual or purported government identification document of another person with intent to impair said person’s freedom of movement; provided, however, that this subdivision shall not apply to an attempt to correct a social security administration record or immigration agency record in accordance with any local, state, or federal agency requirement, where such attempt is not made for the purpose of any express or implied threat;

4. requiring that prostitution be performed to retire, repay, or service a real or purported debt;

5. using force or engaging in any scheme, plan or pattern to compel or induce the person being patronized to engage in or continue to engage in prostitution activity by means of instilling a fear in the person being patronized that, if the demand is not complied with, the actor or another will do one or more of the following:

(a) cause physical injury, serious physical injury, or death to a person; or

(b) cause damage to property, other than the property of the actor; or

(c) engage in other conduct constituting a felony or unlawful imprisonment in the second degree in violation of section 135.05 of this chapter; or

(d) accuse some person of a crime or cause criminal charges or deportation proceedings to be instituted against some person; provided, however, that it shall be an affirmative defense to this subdivision that the defendant reasonably believed the threatened charge to be true and that his or her sole purpose was to compel or induce the victim to take reasonable action to make good the wrong which was the subject of such threatened charge; or 

(e) expose a secret or publicize an asserted fact, whether true or false, tending to subject some person to hatred, contempt or ridicule; or

(f) testify or provide information or withhold testimony or information with respect to another’s legal claim or defense; or

(g) use or abuse his or her position as a public servant by performing some act within or related to his or her official duties, or by failing or refusing to perform an official duty, in such manner as to affect some person adversely; or

(h) perform any other act which would not in itself materially benefit the actor but which is calculated to harm the person who is patronized materially with respect to his or her health, safety, or immigration status.

Sex trafficking is a class B felony

§ 230.34-a Sex trafficking of a child.

1. A person is guilty of sex trafficking of a child when he or she, being twenty-one years old or more, intentionally advances or profits from prostitution of another person and such person is a child less than eighteen years old. Knowledge by the defendant of the age of such child is not an element of this offense and it is not a defense to a prosecution therefor that the defendant did not know the age of the child or believed such age to be eighteen or over. 

2. For purposes of this section:

(a) A person “advances prostitution” when, acting other than as a person in prostitution or as a patron thereof, and with intent to cause prostitution, he or she directly engages in conduct that facilitates an act or enterprise of prostitution.

(b) A person “profits from prostitution” when, acting other than as a person in prostitution receiving compensation for personally rendered prostitution services, and with intent to facilitate prostitution, he or she accepts or receives money or other property pursuant to an agreement or understanding with any person whereby he or she participates in the proceeds of prostitution activity. 

Sex trafficking of a child is a class B felony.

§ 230.35 Promoting or compelling prostitution; accomplice. 

In a prosecution for promoting prostitution or compelling prostitution, a person less than eighteen years old from whose prostitution activity another person is alleged to have advanced or attempted to advance or profited or attempted to profit shall not be deemed to be an accomplice.

§ 230.36 Sex trafficking; accomplice. 

In a prosecution for sex trafficking, a person from whose prostitution activity another person is alleged to have advanced or attempted to advance or profited or attempted to profit shall not be deemed to be an accomplice.

§ 230.40 Permitting prostitution. 

A person is guilty of permitting prostitution when, having possession or control of premises or vehicle which he or she knows are being used for prostitution purposes or for the purpose of advancing prostitution, he or she fails to make reasonable effort to halt or abate such use.

Permitting prostitution is a class B misdemeanor.