In legal terms, solicitation means asking someone to participate in an illegal act. It commonly refers to prostitution. Offering or agreeing to engage in consensual sex for money or other goods or services is illegal in California. Although considered a lesser crime than many other sex crimes, a charge of solictation can still lead to fines and jail time. If you have been charged with solicitation, it can be extremely embarrassing and can affect your family, your friends and your job. It can also permanently affect your reputation.
If you find yourself in this circumstance, you need a defense lawyer who believes in you and who will go the distance to get the charges dismissed or reduced. To prove that you are guilty of solicitation, you have to do more than agree to participate in the transaction of sex in exchange for money or other service.
There must be an act that shows you have done more than just agree. This act can be a physical acknowledgement confirming the agreement. This could be a handshake, a transfer of money, a nod of the head, or asking the prostitute to take off articles of clothing. Law enforcement officials target prostitutes, intermediaries pimps , and their customers johns through a variety of vice squad operations. These include sting operations, where an undercover police officer poses as a prostitute and creates the conditions for the unsuspecting client to consent and agree to engage in prostitution.
If the customer, for example, shows up at the designated hotel or motel room, that will constitute consent and agreement.
The john is then charged and arrested. Solicitation and prostitution are misdemeanor crimes in California. Penalties are based on whether you are a first time offender or a repeat offender.
