Is prostitution legal in North Carolina?
North Carolina prostitution laws have remained unchanged since 1919. These laws state that it is a crime to buy, sell, promote, or facilitate any act of prostitution.
Prostitution Laws of North Carolina
- § 14 203: Definition of terms
- § 14 204: Prostitution and various acts abetting prostitution unlawful
- § 14 204.1: Loitering for the purpose of engaging in prostitution offense
- § 14 205: Prosecution; in what courts
- § 14 206: Reputation and prior conviction admissible as evidence
- § 14 207: Degrees of guilt
- § 14 208: Punishment; probation; parole Article 27 Prostitution
§ 14 203: Definition of terms
The term "prostitution" shall be construed to include the offering or receiving of the body for sexual intercourse for hire, and shall also be construed to include the offering or receiving of the body for indiscriminate sexual intercourse without hire. The term "assignation" shall be construed to include the making of any appointment or engagement for prostitution or any act in furtherance of such appointment or engagement.
§ 14 204: Prostitution and various acts abetting prostitution unlawful
It shall be unlawful: (1) To keep, set up, maintain, or operate any place, structure, building or conveyance for the purpose of prostitution or assignation. (2) To occupy any place, structure, building, or conveyance for the purpose of prostitution or assignation; or for any person to permit any place, structure, building or conveyance owned by him or under his control to be used for the purpose of prostitution or assignation, with knowledge or reasonable cause to know that the same is, or is to be, used for such purpose. (3) To receive, or to offer or agree to receive any person into any place, structure, building, or conveyance for the purpose of prostitution or assignation, or to permit any person to remain there for such purpose. (4) To direct, take, or transport, or to offer or agree to take or transport, any person to any place, structure, or building or to any other person, with knowledge or reasonable cause to know that the purpose of such directing, taking, or transporting is prostitution or assignation. (5) To procure, or to solicit, or to offer to procure or solicit for the purpose of prostitution or assignation. (6) To reside in, enter, or remain in any place, structure, or building, or to enter or remain in any conveyance, for the purpose of prostitution or assignation. (7) To engage in prostitution or assignation, or to aid or abet prostitution or assignation by anymeans whatsoever.
§ 14 204.1: Loitering for the purpose of engaging in prostitution offense
(a) For the purposes of this section, "public place" means any street, sidewalk, bridge, alley or alleyway, plaza, park, driveway, parking lot or transportation facility, or the doorways and entrance ways to any building which fronts on any of those places, or a motor vehicle in or on any of those places. (b) If a person remains or wanders about in a public place and (1) Repeatedly beckons to, stops, or attempts to stop passers by, or repeatedly attempts to engage passers by in conversation; or (2) Repeatedly stops or attempts to stop motor vehicles; or (3) Repeatedly interferes with the free passage of other persons for the purpose of violating any subdivision of G.S. 14 204 or 14 177, that person is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.
§ 14 205: Prosecution; in what courts
Prosecutions for the violation of any of the provisions of this Article shall be tried in the courts of this State wherein misdemeanors are triable except those courts the jurisdiction of which is so limited by the Constitution of this State that such jurisdiction cannot by statute be extended to include criminal actions of the character herein described.
§ 14 206: Reputation and prior conviction admissible as evidence
In the trial of any person charged with a violation of any of the provisions of this Article, testimony of a prior conviction, or testimony concerning the reputation of any place, structure, or building, and of the person or persons who reside in or frequent the same, and of the defendant, shall be admissible in evidence in support of the charge.
§ 14 207: Degrees of guilt
Any person who shall be found to have committed two or more violations of any of the provisions of G.S. 14 204 of this Article within a period of one year next preceding the date named in an indictment, information, or charge of violating anyof the provisions of such section, shall be deemed guilty in the first degree. Any person who shall be found to have committed a single violation of any of the provisions of such section shall be deemed guilty in the second degree.
§ 14 208: Punishment; probation; parole
Any person who shall be deemed guilty in the first degree, as set forth in G.S. 14 207, shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor: Provided, that in case of a commitment to a reformatory institution, the commitment shall be made for an indeterminate period of time of not less than one nor more than three years in duration, and the board of managers or directors of the reformatory institution shall have authority to discharge or to place on parole any person so committed after the service of the minimum term or any part thereof, and to require the return to said institution for the balance of the maximum term of any person who shall violate the terms or conditions of the parole. Notwithstanding the previous paragraph, any person who shall be deemed guilty in the first degree, as set forth in G.S. 14 207, shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. This paragraph applies only in cities with a population of 300,000 or over, according to the most recent decennial federal census, but shall only apply in a city within that class if the city has adopted an ordinance to that effect, which ordinance makes a finding that prostitution is a serious problem within the city. Any person who shall be deemed guilty in the second degree, as set forth in G.S. 14 207, shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor: Provided, that the defendant may be placed on probation in the care of a probation officer designated by law, or theretofore appointed by the court. Probation or parole shall be granted or ordered in the case of a person infected with venereal disease only on such terms and conditions as shall insure medical treatment therefor and prevent the spread thereof, and the court may order any convicted defendant to be examined for venereal disease. No girl or woman who shall be convicted under this Article shall be placed on probation or on parole in the care or charge of any person except a woman probation officer.