Promoting Prostitution Lawyer Washington DC

District of Columbia law treats the person accused of arranging, inducing, or profiting from prostitution as a different kind of defendant from the person accused of the act itself. That distinction carries felony consequences. D.C. Code § 22-2705 addresses pandering and inducing or compelling an individual to engage in prostitution, and sets exposure at up to 5 years or a fine, or both. D.C. Code § 22-2706 addresses compelling an individual to live a life of prostitution against his or her will, and sets exposure at up to 15 years or a fine, or both. D.C. Code § 22-2707 addresses procuring and receiving money or other valuable thing for arranging an assignation, and sets exposure at up to 5 years or a fine, or both.

Each of those three sections rises to up to 20 years where the individual is under 18. D.C. Code § 22-2704, which addresses abducting or enticing a child from home for purposes of prostitution and harboring such a child, is a felony carrying up to 20 years or a fine, or both. Age therefore governs the shape of a third-party case more than any other single fact. Mr. Sris, Owner and Founder of Law Offices Of SRIS, P.C., founded the firm in 1997. Mr. Sris and the firm’s Of Counsel attorneys examine the role the government has assigned to each person named in a file before responding to the charge. Request a consultation. The firm operates a 24/7 phone intake at (888) 437-7747.

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Third-Party Liability Under D.C. Code §§ 22-2705, 22-2706, and 22-2707

D.C. Code § 22-2705 covers a set of relationships rather than a single act. It reaches placing an individual in another person’s custody or in a house of prostitution with intent that the individual engage in prostitution. It reaches causing, compelling, inducing, enticing, or procuring an individual to reside with another for prostitution, to reside or continue residing in a house of prostitution, or to engage in prostitution. It also reaches taking or detaining an individual with intent to compel marriage by force, threats, menace, or duress. Subsection (b) makes it unlawful for a parent, guardian, or custodian to consent to the individual being taken, detained, or used for prostitution. The section is a felony carrying up to 5 years or a fine, or both, and up to 20 years where the individual is under 18.

D.C. Code § 22-2706 addresses compulsion. It covers detaining any individual against that individual’s will by threats or duress for the purpose of prostitution or a sexual act or contact, and compelling any individual against their will to reside with the actor or with another person for those purposes. The section is a felony carrying up to 15 years or a fine, or both, and up to 20 years where the individual is under 18.

D.C. Code § 22-2707 addresses money. It is unlawful within the District to receive any money or other valuable thing for or on account of arranging for or causing any individual to engage in prostitution or a sexual act or contact. The section is a felony carrying up to 5 years or a fine, or both, and up to 20 years where the individual is under 18.

D.C. Code § 22-2704 stands apart. For purposes of prostitution, it is unlawful to persuade, entice, or forcibly abduct a child under 18 from the child’s home or usual abode or from the custody and control of a parent or guardian, or to secrete or harbor any child so persuaded, enticed, or abducted. The section is a felony carrying up to 20 years or a fine, or both. The 2007 amendment raised the covered age from 16 to 18.

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

Mr. Sris and the firm’s Of Counsel attorneys start with the role the government has assigned. These sections describe distinct conduct, and a file that supports one section does not automatically support another. Placing an individual in custody, inducing residence, compelling by threats or duress, and receiving money for arranging are separate acts with separate proof requirements and separate maximum terms. The first task is to identify which section the evidence actually addresses.

Age is verified next, and independently. Because §§ 22-2705, 22-2706, and 22-2707 each rise to up to 20 years where the individual is under 18, and because § 22-2704 applies to a child under 18 after the 2007 amendment raised the covered age from 16 to 18, the documentation of age drives the entire exposure analysis. The attorneys examine what records establish age, when the government learned it, and what the accused is alleged to have known.

The financial record receives detailed review in any case charged under § 22-2707. Payments have histories. Rent, transportation, phone accounts, and transfers between people who live together carry explanations that a summary in a report rarely captures. The attorneys trace what was received, from whom, and on what account, and they test the connection the government draws between a payment and an arrangement.

Cases under § 22-2706 turn on the words threats, duress, and against his or her will, so the relationship between the people involved is examined through communications, movement records, and the accounts of witnesses over time rather than through a single statement. Throughout, the firm prepares the matter for litigation while evaluating resolution, and clients receive a direct explanation of the felony exposure each charged section carries.

The Attorneys Who Handle Third-Party Prostitution Charges

Mr. Sris is a former prosecutor. He founded the firm in 1997, serves as its Owner and Founder, and is admitted in Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia, New Jersey, and New York. He concentrates in criminal defense. Felony cases built on relationships, money, and the accounts of cooperating witnesses require the kind of file review that begins with the documents rather than the narrative, and that is the approach the firm applies to these sections.

The firm’s Of Counsel attorneys contract directly with the firm. Mr. Sris and the firm’s Of Counsel attorneys share the work on third-party prostitution matters in the District, dividing financial records, communications, and witness material according to what a given file requires. The firm maintains several locations and receives calls through a 24/7 phone intake.

A charge under D.C. Code § 22-2705, § 22-2706, § 22-2707, or § 22-2704 places a person in felony territory where the age of another individual can lift exposure to up to 20 years. Cases of that size are shaped early, while records can still be gathered and witness accounts remain close to the events they describe. The firm accepts these matters with that timing in mind and explains to each client what the charged section actually requires. Request a consultation.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a promoting charge differ from a solicitation charge?

The statutes describe different roles. D.C. Code § 22-2701 addresses engaging in prostitution or soliciting for prostitution. The promoting sections address third parties. D.C. Code § 22-2707 makes it unlawful within the District to receive any money or other valuable thing for or on account of arranging for or causing any individual to engage in prostitution or a sexual act or contact, and D.C. Code § 22-2705 addresses pandering and inducing an individual to engage in prostitution. Those sections are felonies carrying up to 5 years or a fine, or both, and up to 20 years where the individual is under 18.

What conduct does pandering under § 22-2705 cover?

The section covers placing an individual in another person’s custody or in a house of prostitution with intent that the individual engage in prostitution. It covers causing, compelling, inducing, enticing, or procuring an individual to reside with another for prostitution, to reside or continue residing in a house of prostitution, or to engage in prostitution. It also covers taking or detaining an individual with intent to compel marriage by force, threats, menace, or duress. The section is a felony carrying up to 5 years or a fine, or both, and up to 20 years where the individual is under 18.

Why does the age of the individual change the exposure so sharply?

The District attaches an enhancement to each of the third-party sections. D.C. Code § 22-2705, D.C. Code § 22-2706, and D.C. Code § 22-2707 each rise to up to 20 years where the individual is under 18. D.C. Code § 22-2704 is a felony carrying up to 20 years or a fine, or both, and the 2007 amendment raised the covered age under that section from 16 to 18. D.C. Code § 22-4001 defines registration offenses to include specified prostitution offenses where the victim is a minor, so the consequences extend past the sentence itself.

What does § 22-2706 describe?

D.C. Code § 22-2706 addresses compelling an individual to live a life of prostitution against his or her will. It covers detaining any individual against that individual’s will, by threats or duress, for the purpose of prostitution or a sexual act or contact, and compelling any individual against their will to reside with the actor or with another person for those purposes. It is a felony carrying up to 15 years or a fine, or both, and up to 20 years where the individual is under 18. Contested cases center on the statutory terms threats, duress, and against the individual’s will.

Can a parent, guardian, or custodian face charges?

Yes. Subsection (b) of D.C. Code § 22-2705 makes it unlawful for a parent, guardian, or custodian to consent to the individual being taken, detained, or used for prostitution. D.C. Code § 22-2704 separately makes it unlawful, for purposes of prostitution, to persuade, entice, or forcibly abduct a child under 18 from the child’s home or usual abode or from the custody and control of a parent or guardian, and to secrete or harbor any child so persuaded, enticed, or abducted. That section is a felony carrying up to 20 years or a fine, or both.

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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