§83. Soliciting for prostitutes

A. Soliciting for prostitutes is the soliciting, inviting, inducing, directing, or transporting a person to any place with the intention of promoting prostitution.

B.(1)(a) Whoever commits the crime of soliciting for prostitutes shall be fined not more than seven hundred fifty dollars, imprisoned for not more than six months, or both, and one-half of the fines collected shall be distributed in accordance with R.S. 15:539.4.

(b) Whoever commits a second or subsequent offense for the crime of soliciting for prostitutes shall be fined not less than one thousand five hundred dollars nor more than two thousand dollars, imprisoned for not more than one year, or both, and one-half of the fines collected shall be distributed in accordance with R.S. 15:539.4.

(2) Whoever commits the crime of soliciting for prostitutes when the person being solicited is under the age of eighteen years shall be fined not less than three thousand dollars nor more than fifty thousand dollars, imprisoned at hard labor for not less than fifteen years nor more than fifty years, or both, and one-half of the fines collected shall be distributed in accordance with R.S. 15:539.4.

(3) Whoever commits the crime of soliciting for prostitutes when the person being solicited is under the age of fourteen years shall be fined not less than five thousand dollars nor more than seventy-five thousand dollars, imprisoned at hard labor for not less than twenty-five years nor more than fifty years, or both, and one-half of the fines collected shall be distributed in accordance with R.S. 15:539.4.

(4) In addition to the penalties provided for in this Subsection, the court shall order the offender to complete the Buyer Beware Program, as provided for in R.S. 15:243, to educate the offender about the harms, exploitation, and negative effects of prostitution. In furtherance of the administration of justice in the judicial district and to prevent future recidivism, the court shall impose additional court costs in the amount of two hundred dollars to defer the costs of the program, with the proceeds of the fine being paid to the operator of the Buyer Beware Program as provided for in R.S. 15:243.

(5)(a) In addition, the court shall order that the personal property used in the commission of the offense, or the proceeds of any such conduct, shall be seized and impounded, and after conviction, sold at public sale or public auction by the district attorney, or otherwise distributed or disposed of, in accordance with R.S. 15:539.1.

(b) The personal property made subject to seizure and sale pursuant to Subparagraph (a) of this Paragraph may include, but shall not be limited to, electronic communication devices, computers, computer related equipment, motor vehicles, photographic equipment used to record or create still or moving visual images of the victim that are recorded on paper, film, video tape, disc, or any other type of digital recording media, and currency, instruments, or securities.

Amended by Acts 1980, No. 708, §1; Acts 2012, No. 446, §1; Acts 2013, No. 83, §1; Acts 2014, No. 564, §1; Acts 2017, No. 180, §1, eff. June 12, 2017; Acts 2018, No. 663, §1.