2017-2018 Bill 3847: Prostitution - South Carolina Legislature Online

1 South Carolina General Assembly 2 122nd Session, 2017-2018 3 4 H. 3847 5 6 STATUS INFORMATION 7 8 General Bill 9 Sponsors: Reps. Funderburk, Norrell, Huggins, McCravy, V.S. Moss, Atwater, Loftis and Thayer 10 Document Path: l:\council\bills\bh\7094ahb17.docx 11 Companion/Similar bill(s): 168 12 13 Introduced in the House on February 23, 2017 14 Currently residing in the House Committee on Judiciary 15 16 Summary: Prostitution 17 18 19 HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS 20 21 Date Body Action Description with journal page number 22 2/23/2017 House Introduced and read first time ( House Journalpage 28) 23 2/23/2017 House Referred to Committee on Judiciary ( House Journalpage 28) 24 2/15/2018 House Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Huggins 25 3/6/2018 House Member(s) request name added as sponsor: McCravy 26 3/8/2018 House Member(s) request name added as sponsor: V.S.Moss, Atwater 27 3/12/2018 House Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Loftis 28 3/13/2018 House Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Thayer 29 30 View the latest legislative information at the website 31 32 33 VERSIONS OF THIS BILL 34 35 2/23/2017 36 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A BILL 10 11 TO AMEND SECTIONS 161590 AND 1615100, CODE OF 12 LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BOTH RELATING TO 13 PROSTITUTION OFFENSES, SO AS TO INCREASE THE 14 PENALTIES FOR SOLICITATION OF PROSTITUTION, 15 ESTABLISHING OR KEEPING A BROTHEL OR HOUSE OF 16 PROSTITUTION, OR CAUSING OR INDUCING ANOTHER 17 TO PARTICIPATE IN PROSTITUTION; TO ESTABLISH THE 18 AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE WHEN A VICTIM OF HUMAN 19 TRAFFICKING IS CHARGED WITH A PROSTITUTION 20 OFFENSE; TO INCREASE THE PENALTIES FOR 21 SOLICITING, CAUSING, OR INDUCING ANOTHER FOR OR 22 INTO PROSTITUTION WHEN THE PROSTITUTE HAS A 23 MENTAL DISABILITY; TO ADD ADDITIONAL PENALTIES 24 FOR OWNERS OF BUSINESS ESTABLISHMENTS WHO 25 KNOWINGLY ALLOW THE BUSINESS ESTABLISHMENT 26 TO BE USED IN VIOLATION OF A PROSTITUTION 27 OFFENSE; TO ALLOW THE COURT TO ORDER A PERSON 28 TO COMPLETE A PROGRAM DESIGNED SPECIFICALLY 29 FOR PERSONS WHO SOLICIT OR PROCURE A PERSON 30 FOR PROSTITUTION; AND TO REPEAL SECTION 1615110 31 RELATING TO PROSTITUTION. 32 33 Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South 34 Carolina: 35 36 SECTION 1. Section 161590 of the 1976 Code is amended to 37 read: 38 39 “Section 161590. (A) It shall be is unlawful to: 40 (1) Engage engage in prostitution; or 41 (2) Aid knowingly aid or abet prostitution knowingly; 42 (3) Procure or solicit for the purpose of prostitution;

[3847] 2 1 (4) Expose indecently the private person for the purpose of 2 prostitution or other indecency; 3 (5) Reside in, enter or remain in any place, structure, 4 building, vehicle, trailer or conveyance for the purpose of 5 lewdness, assignation or prostitution; 6 (6) Keep or set up a house of ill fame, brothel or 7 bawdyhouse; 8 (7) Receive any person for purposes of lewdness, 9 assignation or prostitution into any vehicle, conveyance, trailer, 10 place, structure or building; 11 (8) Permit any person to remain for the purpose of lewdness, 12 assignation or prostitution in any vehicle, conveyance, trailer, 13 place, structure or building; 14 (9) Direct, take or transport, offer or agree to take or 15 transport or aid or assist in transporting any person to any vehicle, 16 conveyance, trailer, place, structure or building or to any other 17 person with knowledge or having reasonable cause to believe that 18 the purpose of such directing, taking or transporting is prostitution, 19 lewdness or assignation; 20 (10) Lease or rent or contract to lease or rent any vehicle, 21 conveyance, trailer, place, structure or building or part thereof 22 believing or having reasonable cause to believe that it is intended 23 to be used for any of the purposes herein prohibited; or 24 (11) Aid, abet, or participate knowingly in the doing of any of 25 the acts herein prohibited. 26 (B) A person who violates the provisions of this section is 27 guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction: 28 (1) for a first offense, must be fined not more than two 29 hundred dollars or imprisoned not more than thirty days, or both; 30 (2) for a second offense, must be fined not more than one 31 thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than six months, or both; 32 (3) for a third or subsequent offense, must be fined not more 33 than three thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than one year, 34 or both. 35 (C) It is an affirmative defense to a prosecution for a violation 36 of this section that, during the commission of the offense, the 37 defendant was a victim of trafficking in persons as defined in 38 Section 1632010(10).” 39 40 SECTION 2. Section 1615100 of the 1976 Code is amended to 41 read: 42 43 “Section 1615100. (A) It shall further be is unlawful to:

[3847] 3 1 (1) procure or solicit for the purpose of prostitution; 2 (1)(2) Procure procure a female person to be an inmate for a 3 house of prostitution; 4 (2)(3) Cause cause, induce, persuade, or encourage by 5 promise, threat, violence, or by any scheme or device a female 6 person to become a prostitute or to remain an inmate of a house of 7 prostitution; 8 (3)(4) Induce induce, persuade, or encourage a female person 9 to come into or leave this State for the purpose of prostitution or to 10 become an inmate in a house of prostitution; 11 (4)(5) Receive receive or give or agree to receive or give any 12 money or thing of value for procuring or attempting to procure any 13 female a person to become a prostitute or an inmate in a house of 14 prostitution; 15 (5)(6) Accept accept or receive knowingly any money or 16 other thing of value without consideration from a prostitute; or 17 (7) expose indecently the private person for the purpose of 18 prostitution or other indecency; 19 (8) reside in, enter, or remain in a place, structure, building, 20 vehicle, trailer, or conveyance for the purpose of lewdness, 21 assignation, or prostitution; 22 (9) keep or set up a house of ill fame, brothel, or 23 bawdyhouse; 24 (10) receive a person for purposes of lewdness, assignation, 25 or prostitution into a vehicle, conveyance, trailer, place, structure, 26 or building; 27 (11) permit a person to remain for the purpose of lewdness, 28 assignation, or prostitution in a vehicle, conveyance, trailer, place, 29 structure, or building; 30 (12) direct, take, or transport, offer or agree to take or 31 transport, or aid or assist in transporting a person to a vehicle, 32 conveyance, trailer, place, structure, or building, or to another 33 person with knowledge or having reasonable cause to believe that 34 the purpose of such directing, taking, or transporting is 35 prostitution, lewdness, or assignation; 36 (13) lease, rent, or contract to lease or rent a vehicle, 37 conveyance, trailer, place, structure, building, or part thereof 38 believing or having reasonable cause to believe that it is intended 39 to be used for any of the purposes prohibited by the provisions of 40 this section; 41 (6)(14)Aid knowingly aid, abet, or participate knowingly in 42 the doing of any of the acts herein prohibited in this section;

[3847] 4 1 (15) knowingly use a business establishment or permit the 2 business establishment to be used for any of the purposes 3 prohibited in this section. 4 (B)(1) A person who violates a provision of this section is 5 guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction: 6 (a) for a first offense, must be fined not less than two 7 hundred fifty dollars and not more than one thousand dollars or 8 imprisoned not more than thirty days, or both; 9 (b) for a second offense, must be fined not less than five 10 hundred dollars and not more than three thousand dollars or 11 imprisoned not more than six months, or both; 12 (c) for a third or subsequent offense, must be fined not 13 less than one thousand five hundred dollars and not more than five 14 thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than one year, or both. 15 (2) A person who violates a provision of this section when 16 the prostitute is severely or profoundly mentally disabled, is guilty 17 of a felony and, upon conviction, must be fined not less than one 18 thousand five hundred dollars and not more than five thousand 19 dollars or imprisoned not more than two years, or both. 20 (C) A business owner who violates the provisions of this 21 section pursuant to subsection (A)(15), in addition to the penalties 22 provided in this section, is also subject to the penalties provided in 23 Section 1632030 and Section 1632090. 24 (D) In the discretion of the court, a person who violates the 25 provisions of this section regarding procuring or soliciting a person 26 for the purpose of prostitution, in addition to the penalties provided 27 in this section, may be ordered to complete a program designed 28 specifically for persons convicted of this particular offense. All 29 costs associated with attendance and completion of such program 30 are to be borne by the person convicted of the violation.” 31 32 SECTION 3. Section 1615110 of the 1976 Code is repealed. 33 34 SECTION 4. This act takes effect upon approval by the 35 Governor. 36 XX 37

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