Solicitation Of An Adult Is Worse Than The Average Misdemeanor Conviction

Most sex-related offenses require convicted defendants to register on the sex offender registry for at least a few years after they have completed their prison or probation sentences. The only sexual crimes that do not require sex offender registration are the ones that do not involve minors and do not involve physical violence. Simply sharing sexually suggestive content with a minor through a messaging app is a felony, even if you have never met the minor in person. By contrast, public nudity does not require you to register as a sex offender, and neither does solicitation of an adult. The charge of solicitation of an adult is a first-degree misdemeanor, but as with drunk driving and other offenses where the law considers individual incidents to indicate high risk of a larger pattern. Therefore, the penalties for a conviction extend beyond those that the law normally imposes for misdemeanor convictions. If you are being accused of soliciting an adult for commercial sex, contact a Tampa sex crimes lawyer.

Legal Measures to Deter Repeat Offenses for Solicitation of Adults Go Beyond Standard Misdemeanor Penalties

The charge of solicitation of an adult applies if you offer to pay an adult for sexual favors. It counts as solicitation if a person or business was advertising commercial sex, such as if you enter a place known to operate as a brothel and interact with the employees or if you send a message on a hookup app to someone whose profile indicates that they expect payment in exchange for hookups. It can also apply if you are the one who initiates the sex for payment arrangement, such as if you are conversing with a stranger at a bar and you offer to pay her to go to your hotel room with you.

For most first-degree misdemeanor convictions, the court can sentence you to up to a year in jail, up to a year of probation, a criminal fine of up to $1,000, or any combination thereof. Since first offense solicitation of an adult is a misdemeanor, you do not have to register on the sex offender registry. You must, however, comply with other deterrent measures that do not technically count as criminal penalties. For example, you must pay a civil fine of $5,000 in addition to any criminal fine that the court orders you to pay. You must also participate in a sex trafficking education program. The law gives you the benefit of the doubt that first time solicitation of an adult is simply an arrangement between a lonely person and an economically vulnerable person, but if you have a prior conviction, you cannot pretend not to know that commercial sex is often a front for human trafficking.

Contact Tampa Criminal Defense Attorney Bryant Scriven

A criminal defense lawyer can help you get justice if you are facing criminal charges for solicitation of an adult.  Contact Scriven Law in Tampa, Florida to schedule a consultation.

Source:

cbs12.com/news/local/five-nabbed-in-west-palm-beach-prostitution-sting-palm-beach-county-prostitution-operation-crime-arrests-solicitation-of-prostitution-west-palm-beach-police-department