Elevates severity of patronizing a prostitute and permitting prostitution, and makes certain provisions of promoting prostitution violent felonies

Section two of the bill makes a conforming amendment to Penal Law section 60.05 to reflect changes made by this bill.

Section three of the bill amends Penal Law section 230.04 to reclassify the offense of patronizing a prostitute in the third degree from a class A misdemeanor to a class E felony.

Section four of the bill amends Penal Law section 230.05 to reclassify the offense of patronizing a prostitute in the second degree from a class E felony to a class D felony.

Section five of the bill amends Penal Law section 230.06 to reclassify the offense of patronizing a prostitute in the first degree from a class D felony to a class C felony.

Section six of the bill amends Penal Law section 230.40 to reclassify the current offense of permitting prostitution from a class B misdemeanor to a class A misdemeanor and to redesignate this offense as permitting prostitution in the second degree.

Section seven of the bill amends Penal Law to add a new section 230.45, which creates a new class E felony of permitting prostitution in the first degree. This new offense is deemed to occur when a person has possession or control of a premises which he or she knows are being used for prostitution purposes, including the prostitution of a child.

Section eight of the bill amends provisions of the Sexual Offender Registration Act to require any person who has been convicted of the new felony offense of permitting prostitution in the first degree to register as a sex offender.

Section nine of the bill provides that this act shall take effect on the first of November next succeeding the date on which it shall have become a law.

Existing law

The crimes of promoting prostitution in the first degree, patronizing a prostitute in the first degree, and promoting prostitution in the second degree are not designated as violent felony offenses in Section 70.02 of the Penal Law. Current law also designates patronizing a prostitute in the third degree as a Class A misdemeanor, patronizing a prostitute in the second degree as an E felony, and patronizing a Prostitute in the first degree as a D felony. Current law prohibits permitting prostitution, but does not distinguish between permitting the prostitution of children under 17 and adults. The current crime of permitting prostitution is a Class B misdemeanor; permitting prostitution in the first degree as defined in this bill is a Class E felony.

Justification

The New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services reports that arrests for sex offenses against children have risen in every year since 1999. In 2000, New York enacted the Sexual Assault Reform Act which increased penalties for sex offenses and revised definitions of sex offense crimes. However, no changes were made to the penalties for or the definitions of the offenses regarding prostitution, penalties for prostitution offenses remain the same as they were when first defined in 1978 and do not adequately reflect the seriousness of crimes involving the prostitution of children. Increases in penalties are needed to assure that persons that are convicted of these offenses will be appropriately punished and then supervised so that children will be protected from the risk of further offenses by these persons.

These penalties do not adequately reflect the seriousness of crimes involving the prostitution of our children. Increases in penalties are needed to ensure that anyone who is convicted of these offenses will be appropriately punished and then supervised so that children will be protected from the risk of further offenses by these persons.

Legislative history

2015: A.4034 - Referred to Codes

Fiscal implications

None.

Effective date

This act shall take effect on the first of November next succeeding the date on which it shall have become a law.