Online Solicitation of a Minor Lawyer Washington DC

Online solicitation of a minor is a description of conduct, not the name of a District offense. In Washington, D.C., the conduct usually gathered under that label is reached by D.C. Code § 22-3010, the enticement section. It covers a person at least 4 years older than a child, or a person in a significant relationship with a minor, who takes the child to any place to commit an enumerated sexual abuse offense, or who seduces, entices, allures, convinces or persuades a child or minor to engage in a sexual act or sexual contact. The verbs carry the weight. The section reaches persuasion itself, which means the words exchanged in a chat window can be the charged conduct.

Subsection (b) of that section extends its reach to attempts directed at a person who represents himself or herself to be a child. That provision is what supports sting prosecutions, and it explains how a felony allegation can proceed even though the person receiving the messages was an adult. Charging documents frequently pair the enticement count with others. D.C. Code § 22-3010.02 addresses arranging a sexual act or sexual contact, and D.C. Code § 22-3010.01 addresses misdemeanor sexual abuse of a child or minor. Each carries its own elements.

Law Offices Of SRIS, P.C. has defended criminal matters since 1997. Mr. Sris, Owner and Founder of Law Offices Of SRIS, P.C., is a former prosecutor, and he and the firm’s Of Counsel attorneys examine how a conversation actually unfolded before anyone characterizes it. Request a consultation through the firm’s 24/7 phone intake at (888) 437-7747.

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What D.C. Code § 22-3010 Covers and What the Related Sections Add

D.C. Code § 22-3010 describes enticement in more than one way. It covers a person at least 4 years older than a child, or a person in a significant relationship with a minor, who takes the child to any place to commit an enumerated sexual abuse offense. It also covers a person in either of those positions who seduces, entices, allures, convinces or persuades a child or minor to engage in a sexual act or sexual contact. The second branch requires no travel, no meeting, and no physical contact. Persuasion is the conduct. A violation carries up to 5 years or a fine, or both.

Separate subsections shape how the section operates. Subsection (b) reaches attempts directed at a person who represents himself or herself to be a child, which is the provision that supports sting prosecutions in the District. Subsection (c) addresses punishment rather than liability: it bars consecutive sentencing for enticement and the closely associated sexual act or contact.

D.C. Code § 22-3010.02 covers a different act. It makes it unlawful to arrange to engage in, or to arrange for another person to engage in, a sexual act or sexual contact with an individual, real or fictitious, who is or is represented to be a child at least 4 years younger than the actor. Where the individual is fictitious, the conduct is unlawful only if the arrangement is made by or with a law enforcement officer. That section carries up to 5 years, a fine, or both.

D.C. Code § 22-3010.01 addresses misdemeanor sexual abuse of a child or minor. It applies to a person 18 or older who is more than 4 years older than a child, or a person 18 or older in a significant relationship with a minor, who engages in sexually suggestive conduct as subsection (b) defines it. The penalty is up to 180 days or a fine, or both, and up to 3 years where there are 3 or more prior convictions for the same offense.

How Mr. Sris and the Firm’s Of Counsel Attorneys Handle These Cases

The starting point is the full conversation, in order, from the first message forward. An enticement theory under D.C. Code § 22-3010 rests on words, so the sequence of those words is the case. Mr. Sris and the firm’s Of Counsel attorneys reconstruct the exchange from the underlying data where that is possible, rather than from an investigative summary, and compare timestamps, account handles, and platform records against the narrative a charging document presents.

Attention then turns to the representation of age. Subsection (b) reaches attempts directed at a person who represents himself or herself to be a child, which makes the timing and the clarity of that representation central. When was age introduced, and by whom? What did the accused person say after it was introduced, and what did the accused person do? A record showing persuasion is not the same as a record showing conversation, and the section uses verbs that describe the former.

The charging structure is reviewed count by count. Subsection (c) bars consecutive sentencing for enticement and the closely associated sexual act or contact, which affects how any proposed resolution should be evaluated. Where D.C. Code § 22-3010.01 or D.C. Code § 22-3010.02 appears alongside an enticement count, each is measured against its own elements rather than treated as a restatement of the count next to it.

Registration is addressed at the outset. Registration offenses under D.C. Code § 22-4001 include any offense under Chapter 30 of Title 22, so that consequence survives a sentence. Clients receive a plain account of what the sections require and what the government still has to establish. Request a consultation.

Mr. Sris and the Firm’s Of Counsel Attorneys

Mr. Sris is the Owner and Founder of the firm. He is a former prosecutor and is admitted in Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia, New Jersey, and New York. That background informs how the firm approaches an enticement file, because the questions that decide these matters are often the ones an investigator answered early and never revisited.

The firm has practiced since 1997 and concentrates in criminal defense. Enticement and solicitation allegations are staffed by Mr. Sris and the firm’s Of Counsel attorneys, who work through the text of D.C. Code § 22-3010 alongside any related sections a charging document adds, including D.C. Code § 22-3010.01 and D.C. Code § 22-3010.02. Each section carries its own elements and its own exposure, and a count that appears redundant on the face of a charging document may not be.

The firm’s approach to communication is straightforward. Clients are told what the sections say, what the transcript shows, what the government still has to establish, and what registration under D.C. Code § 22-4001 would mean if a conviction were entered. No prediction of result accompanies that explanation. Consultations at the firm’s locations are scheduled in advance. Request a consultation through the firm’s 24/7 phone intake at (888) 437-7747.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is online solicitation of a minor a separate offense in the District?

The phrase describes conduct rather than a code section. In the District, that conduct is usually charged under D.C. Code § 22-3010, which covers seducing, enticing, alluring, convincing or persuading a child or minor to engage in a sexual act or sexual contact, and also covers taking a child to any place to commit an enumerated sexual abuse offense. Depending on the facts, a charging document may add D.C. Code § 22-3010.02 for arranging a sexual act or sexual contact, or D.C. Code § 22-3010.01 for misdemeanor sexual abuse of a child or minor.

What does subsection (b) of D.C. Code § 22-3010 add?

Subsection (b) reaches attempts directed at a person who represents himself or herself to be a child. That provision is what supports sting prosecutions, because the person on the other end of a conversation may be an adult participating in an operation rather than a child. For the defense, the subsection focuses attention on the representation itself: when it was made, by whom, how clearly, and how the accused person responded to it. It also focuses attention on whether the conduct amounted to an attempt within the meaning of the section, or stopped short of one.

Can enticement and a sexual contact offense be charged together?

They can appear in the same charging document, and D.C. Code § 22-3010 addresses how they are punished. Subsection (c) bars consecutive sentencing for enticement and the closely associated sexual act or contact. That rule matters at disposition, and it also matters when an offer is on the table, because a count that cannot add consecutive time changes the arithmetic of a proposed resolution. Any assessment of stacked counts should rest on the statutory text rather than on an assumption about how counts usually run.

What is sexually suggestive conduct under D.C. Code § 22-3010.01?

Subsection (b) of that section defines it. The conduct includes touching a child or minor inside the clothing, touching close to the genitalia, anus, breast or buttocks, placing one’s tongue in the child’s or minor’s mouth, or touching one’s own or a third person’s genitalia, in a way intended to cause or reasonably causing sexual arousal or gratification. The section applies to a person 18 or older who is more than 4 years older than a child, or a person 18 or older in a significant relationship with a minor. A violation carries up to 180 days or a fine, or both, and up to 3 years with 3 or more prior convictions for the same offense.

What penalty does an enticement charge under D.C. Code § 22-3010 carry?

The section provides for up to 5 years or a fine, or both. Confinement is not the whole picture. Because registration offenses under D.C. Code § 22-4001 include any offense under Chapter 30 of Title 22, a conviction under the enticement section carries registration exposure as well. D.C. Code § 22-3020 separately lists six aggravating circumstances, including a victim under 13 and a victim under 18 where the actor is in a significant relationship, and permits enhanced penalties up to 1.5 times the statutory maximum. Those provisions should be evaluated together at the outset of a case.

This page provides general information and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Case results depend on a variety of factors unique to each case. Results may vary.

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