Under current Oregon laws, if a person solicits a minor for sex in exchange for money, that person is not charged with a felony. Instead, a fine of $10,000 is levied against people for a first-time offense, and people are fined $20,000 the second time they are charged. However, this soon could change if new proposed legislation is passed.
Under the new legislation, a person could be charged with felony crimes for soliciting sex from a minor prostitute -- even for a first offense. Those found guilty would also be required to register as a sex offender and could be sentenced to up to three years in prison. However, there has been some debate about whether first time offenders should face felony charges. In the Senate's version of the bill, people are only charged with a felony after their third offense.
Proponents of this new legislation -- which could come up for a vote next week -- say that this bill is necessary to make sex trafficking less appealing and less profitable. In theory, if there is less demand for child sex workers, then pimps would make less money and fewer children would be hurt. Furthermore they claim that monetary fines are not enough to keep people from seeking sex with underage sex-workers.
However, opponents of the legislation said that it goes too far. They say that it needs to distinguish between those who believe they are soliciting an adult and those who are seeking to have sex with a child. In some cases, people may believe that they are having sexual relations with an adult but in reality the prostitute is under the age of 18, and in this case, these people would still face felony charges.
Those facing sex crime charges for soliciting sex should understand what the current laws are and how they affect their criminal defense strategy. Although harsher punishments are being debated, these changes should not affect those currently facing charges.
Source: Albany Democrat-Herald, "Ore. bill targets johns who pay for sex with minor," June 7, 2013
