Ridgefield Solicitation Lawyer
In Connecticut, both prostitution and soliciting prostitution are illegal and carry criminal penalties. It may come as a surprise, but soliciting prostitution is often punished even more harshly than prostitution itself. It is important to remember that you still have important legal rights when facing allegations of this nature, and proactively enforcing those rights with a Ridgefield solicitation lawyer’s help could be vital to minimizing the criminal sanctions you wind up facing and mitigating the impact this charge has on your personal and professional life.
Dealing With Simple Solicitation Charges
According to Connecticut General Statutes (C.G.S.) § 53a-83, there are three ways someone can commit the crime of “Soliciting Sexual Acts,” each of which can involve any form of “sexual conduct” as part of the “sexual acts” in question: sexual contact alone, oral sex, or any type of penetrative intercourse.
The first way is someone paying someone or providing them anything else of value after having engaged in sexual conduct with them “pursuant to a prior understanding” that the payment is compensation for sexual services, and/or paying a third party for facilitating the sexual encounter. The second way is very similar to the first, just with the order of operations reversed—instead of providing compensation after sexual conduct has occurred, the defendant provides compensation directly to someone else or to a third party under the understanding that they will receive sexual services. Third and finally, someone can be convicted of violating C.G.S. §53a-83 simply for offering to pay someone else for sex or requesting sexual services in exchange for compensation.
Regardless of how it occurs, soliciting sexual acts in any of the ways mentioned above is a Class A misdemeanor in Connecticut. Notably, though, while the maximum one-year jail term upon conviction is the same for this offense as it is for most other Class A misdemeanor charges, the usual maximum $2,000 in fines is instead a mandatory fine of exactly $2,000 for someone convicted of Solicitation in Ridgefield, as a knowledgeable attorney can further explain.
How Is Solicitation of a Minor Treated Differently?
Someone who engages in any form of solicitation defined above with the reasonable belief that the person they are soliciting for sexual services is under the age of 18 will generally be prosecuted under a different section of the Connecticut Penal Code. Specifically, they will likely face felony charges under C.G.S. § 53a-83b, which addresses “Commercial Sexual Abuse of a Minor.”
This offense is a Class B felony if the minor in question is between 15 and 18 years of age, meaning a first-time offender may face between one and 20 years of prison time plus $15,000 in maximum fines if they are convicted. However, if the minor in question is under 15 years old, the offense becomes a Class A felony carrying between 10 and 25 years of prison time plus a maximum of $20,000 in fines—sanctions which a seasoned solicitation lawyer in Ridgefield can provide irreplaceable assistance with fighting back against.
Talk to a Ridgefield Solicitation Attorney About Your Legal Options
Being accused of soliciting a prostitute for sex can wreak havoc on every aspect of your life, and it can lead to you facing a steep fine and the possibility of jail time. Put simply, this is a serious situation that you should be proactive about handling as soon as you learn you are being charged, and that typically starts with getting help from experienced legal counsel. Call Mark Sherman Law today to learn how a Ridgefield solicitation lawyer can assist you, and click here to find out what previous clients have said about working with us.