CRIMINAL CODE 1899 - SECT 229I
Persons found in places reasonably suspected of being used for prostitution etc.
CRIMINAL CODE 1899 - SECT 229I
Persons found in places reasonably suspected of being used for prostitution etc.
229I Persons found in places reasonably suspected of being used for
prostitution etc.
(1) A person who, without reasonable excuse, is found in, or leaving after
having been in, a place suspected on reasonable grounds of being used for the
purposes of prostitution by 2 or more prostitutes commits a crime.
Penalty—
Maximum penalty—
(a) for a first offence—imprisonment for
3 years; or
(b) for a second offence—imprisonment for 5 years; or
(c) for
a third or subsequent offence—imprisonment for 7 years.
(2) However, if a
person who is not an adult or is a person with an impairment of the mind is,
to the offender’s knowledge, in the place at the time of the offence, the
offender is liable to a maximum penalty of 14 years imprisonment.
(3) In
sentencing an offender who is a prostitute or client, the court may, in
mitigation of sentence, have regard to evidence of an appropriate sexual
health check undergone by the offender within 3 months before the offence.
(4) Subsection (1) does not apply to a person (the
"relevant person" ) if the place is a licensed brothel, unless—
(a) if the
relevant person, without reasonable excuse, is found in the place—a person
who is not an adult or who is a person with an impairment of the mind is, to
the relevant person’s knowledge, also in the place; or
(b) if the
relevant person, without reasonable excuse, is found leaving after having been
in the place—a person who is not an adult or who is a person with an
impairment of the mind was, to the relevant person’s knowledge, also in the
place when the relevant person was in the place.