Rockville Prostitution Lawyer

If you have been charged with prostitution or solicitation in Rockville, you are likely worried about your record, your reputation, and your future. The good news is that these charges are often defensible, and in many cases a first-time offense can be resolved through a diversion program that keeps your record clean. Prostitution and solicitation are misdemeanors in Maryland, but a conviction still carries real consequences. At Krum, Gergely & Oates, our Rockville prostitution lawyers work to protect your record and your reputation, and our office is located one block from the Montgomery County courts.

Prostitution and Solicitation Charges in Maryland

Charged with prostitution, assignation, or solicitation in Maryland? Many jurisdictions, especially Montgomery County and Prince George’s County, offer diversion programs. This means that if you were charged in one of those jurisdictions, you are often able to keep a clean record after the case closes. Here is what you should know:

• For a first offense, in most cases you can avoid a conviction by participating in a local diversion program, especially in Montgomery or Prince George’s County.
• If the charges are dismissed, even after completing a program, you can have the prostitution charges expunged and removed from your criminal record. Once expunged, the charges no longer appear on your Maryland criminal record.
• As your Maryland prostitution attorneys, Krum, Gergely & Oates always handle your expungement free of charge. We want all of our clients to maintain a clean record.
• Even if this is not your first offense, or if you do not wish to do community service, our experienced Maryland prostitution attorneys can file motions with the court to have the case dismissed for a number of reasons, including a faulty statement of charges.
• In rare cases, the police use entrapment in Maryland prostitution stings, which is illegal, and the judge should dismiss the case.
• The penalty for prostitution or solicitation in Maryland is a misdemeanor conviction subject to imprisonment not exceeding 1 year and/or a fine not exceeding $500 or both.
• Police often use stings to charge large numbers of people at once.

How We Defend Against Prostitution and Solicitation Charges

At Krum, Gergely & Oates, our number one priority is keeping our clients’ records as clean as possible. As experienced criminal defense attorneys, we know the toll that a criminal record can take on a person’s ability to provide for themselves and their family. We are here to listen to you, answer your questions, and lay out all of your options while recommending the best course of action.

We know from experience what judges believe to be the best path, whether for trial, for a plea, or for a motion to dismiss, and what prosecutors will work with us to reach the most favorable resolution of your case. That is the advantage of hiring an attorney who is in these courts almost every day, as we are at Krum, Gergely & Oates.

Where Your Rockville Prostitution Case Will Be Heard

Because Rockville is the Montgomery County seat, prostitution and solicitation cases from Rockville are heard at the county courts in the city. As misdemeanors, these charges are typically handled at the District Court of Maryland for Montgomery County at 191 East Jefferson Street, where cases are decided by a judge. Our office is one block from the courthouse, and our attorneys appear there regularly, which gives us direct familiarity with how these cases are prosecuted and resolved locally.

Understanding Prostitution and Solicitation Charges

Prostitution and solicitation cases in Maryland involve some important legal distinctions. Understanding them is often the key to a strong defense.

Diversion Programs

Many Maryland jurisdictions, especially Montgomery County and Prince George’s County, offer diversion programs for prostitution. Both counties require that a defendant complete community service hours, and some prosecutors may require additional programs. What this means is that if a defendant is willing to complete the program conditions, the charges can be dismissed and the defendant will be able to expunge the charges as if the case never happened.

Entrapment

If a defendant was simply walking down the street and was approached by someone offering to perform a sexual act in exchange for money, and that person turned out to be a police officer, this is entrapment, and it is illegal. Police are not permitted to trick someone into committing a crime in order to secure a conviction.

Faulty Statement of Charges

Maryland’s prostitution and solicitation definitions come from Maryland Code § 11-301:

• “Prostitution” means the performance of a sexual act, sexual contact, or vaginal intercourse for hire.
• “Solicit” means urging, advising, inducing, encouraging, requesting, or commanding another.
• “Assignation” means the making of an appointment or engagement for prostitution, or any act in furtherance of the appointment or engagement.

As you can see, these definitions are easy to confuse. Just as they are confusing to a civilian, they are often confusing to officers and even to some prosecutors. For example, if someone asks another person to perform a sexual act, they are not guilty of prostitution, but instead may be guilty of solicitation. If someone just makes an appointment and does nothing else, they could be guilty of solicitation, but the more appropriate charge would be assignation. The police do not often charge defendants correctly under this part of the code, and that can be the basis for a motion to dismiss.

Police Stings for Prostitution and Solicitation

Police sometimes use the internet in their prostitution and solicitation stings. After Backpage.com was shut down, we have seen clients recently charged where the police were using a site called eros.com. The police will post an ad using provocative pictures, and an officer will pose on the phone offering services at a hotel or casino. Once the person arrives and pays the fee, the police make the arrest.

Sometimes the police do almost the exact opposite. They will set up surveillance on a hotel being used for prostitution and watch the hotel room for people coming and going. Once someone leaves, the person is stopped and questioned, usually providing the police with a full confession. In both examples, it is extremely important that the person make no statements to the police. In the second scenario in particular, it is almost impossible for a defendant to be convicted unless the defendant makes a statement.

As experienced solicitation and prostitution lawyers who have handled thousands of these cases, we at Krum, Gergely & Oates have seen a wide variety of stings used to charge people with solicitation or prostitution. If you are facing any of these charges, contact us today. We can help.