Maryland Prostitution and Solicitation Laws

Maryland Code, Criminal Law, Title 11, Subtitle 3 — Prostitution and Related Crimes

§ 11-301 — Definitions

§ 11-303 — House of Prostitution

§ 11-304 — Receiving Earnings of a Prostitute

§ 11-305 — Abduction of Child Under 16

§ 11-306 — Procuring or Solicitation of Prostitution or Assignation

§ 11-307 — Using Building, Structure, or Conveyance for Prostitution or Assignation

§ 3-603 — Sale of a Minor

Maryland prohibits all the following:

• Knowingly engaging in prostitution in any manner (§ 11-303)
• Knowingly engaging in assignation (i.e., making an appointment or engagement for prostitution) (§ 11-303)
• Knowingly occupying a building, structure, or conveyance for prostitution or assignation (i.e., a "house of prostitution") (§ 11-303)
• Receiving or getting money or proceeds from a person engaged in prostitution with the intent to promote or profit from a crime or concealing the nature of the money (§ 11-304)
• Persuading, enticing, or aiding in the persuasion or enticement of someone under 16 from their home or their parent or guardian's custody and secreting, harboring, or aiding their secretion or harboring from their home (§ 11-305)
• Knowingly procuring or soliciting (or offering to procure or solicit) prostitution or assignation (§ 11-306)
• Knowingly allowing a building, structure, or conveyance under one's control to be used for prostitution assignation (§ 11-307)

Also, Maryland prohibits the following on human trafficking:

• Taking or placing a person into a place of prostitution (§ 3-1102)
• Persuading a person to be taken to a place of prostitution (§ 3-1102)
• Receiving consideration (i.e., something of value) to procure people for a place of prostitution (§ 3-1102)
• Engaging in a scheme that causes a person to believe that they will face physical harm or restraint if they don't take part in sexually explicit performances (§ 3-1102)
• Destroying or confiscating passports or government identification for a prostitution-related crime (§ 3-1102)
• Parents or guardians consenting to the taking of their child for prostitution (§ 3-1102)
• Taking or detaining with the use of force, threats, coercion, or fraud to compel a person to marry a person (§ 3-1103)
• Selling or trading a minor for money, property, or anything of value (§ 3-603)

Maryland's statutes typically list the offenses associated with each crime. The penalties for the crimes above include:

• Engaging in prostitution, assignation, or a house of prostitution: misdemeanor; up to one year of jail time and a fine of up to $500 (§ 11-303)
• Receiving or getting money or proceeds from prostitution: misdemeanor; up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000 (§ 11-304)
• Abducting a child under 16 for prostitution: felony; up to 25 years in prison and a $5,000 fine (§ 11-305)
• Knowingly procuring or soliciting prostitution: misdemeanor; up to one year of jail time and a fine of up to $500 (§ 11-306)
• Using a building for prostitution: misdemeanor; up to one year of jail time and a fine of up to $500 (§ 11-307)
• Compelling someone to marry another person: felony; up to 25 years in prison and a fine of up to $15,000 (§ 3-1103)
• Sex trafficking: felony; up to 25 years in prison and a fine of up to $15,000 (§ 3-1102)
• Selling or trading a minor for consideration: felony; up to five years in prison and a fine of $10,000 (§ 3-603)

Also, a conviction for a sex crime may require the convicted person to register as a sex offender.

Typically, any defense such as innocence, lack of intent, lack of knowledge, or lack of any necessary element to a crime above applies in prostitution-related cases.

But some statutes alter possible defenses. For example, the statute banning the abduction of a 16-year-old explicitly states that not knowing the age of the victim is not a defense. A defense for engaging in prostitution is when the accused person committed the illegal act under duress due to being a victim of human trafficking.