New Kansas Laws Addressing the Promoting of Prostitution

Interviewer: How does the promotion of prostitution differ from the act of prostitution as far as the new prostitution laws in Kansas are concerned? Are people looking at the same type of sentencing for those charges?

Kansas Statute Prohibits Promoting the Promotion of Sexual Relations

Paul: There is a separate statute that prohibits promoting of the sale of sexual relations. K.S.A. 21-6420 makes the following activities unlawful:

(1)     Establishing, owning, maintaining or managing any property, whether real or personal, where sexual relations are being sold or offered for sale by a person who is 18 years of age or older, or participating in the establishment, ownership, maintenance or management thereof;

(2) permitting any property, whether real or personal, partially or wholly owned or controlled by the defendant to be used as a place where sexual relations are being sold or offered for sale by a person who is 18 years of age or older;

(3) procuring a person selling sexual relations who is 18 years of age or older for a place where sexual relations are being sold or offered for sale;

(4) inducing another who is 18 years of age or older to become a person who sells sexual relations;

(5) soliciting a patron for a person 18 years of age or older who is selling sexual relations or for a place where sexual relations are being sold or offered for sale;

(6) procuring a person 18 years of age or older who is selling sexual relations for a patron;

(7) procuring transportation for, paying for the transportation of, or transporting a person 18 years of age or older within this state with the intention of assisting or promoting that person’s engaging in the sale of sexual relations; or

(8) being employed to perform any act which is prohibited by this section.

Case History: How the New Pandering Legislation Resulted in an Arrest

In fact, I had a client just last week, who is a young 21 year old woman, whose friend asked her for a ride. The friend said she was going to meet some friends who were in from out of town.  Instead, her friend had set up an appointment with a John.

The friend of hers gave her a ride to this location, dropped her off, and as she’s driving away, police officers stopped her. It was one of the reverse sting operations where law enforcement was trying to catch and arrest prostitutes. This young lady is now facing a Severity Level Nine felony offense for “Promoting Prostitution” by providing transportation to a suspected prostitute.

By Simply Providing a Ride for another Individual, This Action Led to a Charge of Promoting the Sale of Sexual Relations

She was charged for having assisted or promoted the sale of sexual relations. Her defense is that she had no idea her friend was going over there to do anything improper. She genuinely believed she was giving her friend a ride to visit some friends who were in from out of town.

Interviewer: Is that a case that you think you can win?

Paul: Now, a lot of these officers will wear audio recording devices when they’re in the field, so as they’re making this arrest, we have to hope that this officer was wearing a body camera or at least a body microphone. We are hoping he had recorded the contemporaneous dialogue between himself and the young lady who’s been arrested. We’ll just have to go through that very, very carefully.

Are the Promoting Charges Subject to More Severe Penalties?

Interviewer: Are those charges subject to much stronger penalties? I think you had mentioned she was looking at maybe a felony even though this was her first offense.

A Conviction Will Result in Severe Penalties for This Felony Charge

Paul: First offense for promoting the sale of sexual relations is a severity level nine felony offense. Second and subsequent offenses of promoting the sale of sexual relations is now a severity level seven felony offense; a very serious felony.

Are There a High Number of Solicitation Charges in Kansas?

Interviewer: There are obviously stricter laws in place for the pandering charges. Realistically, are there many solicitation cases in Kansas? How many cases do you handle?

Paul: My caseload is directly proportional to the number of sting operations that law enforcement is operating at any given time.

Again, we just don’t see arrests involving a customer and a service provider because they are interrupted or observed by law enforcement. Virtually all of the arrests we see are the result of a sting operation.

Call today for an initial consultation to discuss your case: (913) 322-3265.  I represent clients accused of prostitution throughout the Kansas City Metro area including the municipalities of Johnson County, Kansas: De Soto, Gardner, Leawood, Lenexa, Merriam, Mission, Olathe, Overland Park, Prairie Village and Shawnee.