Police in the St. Cloud area, including Waite Park, Sartell, Sauk Rapids and Sauk Center, are continuously investigating individuals soliciting prostitution.\u00a0 Often, police officers receive a tip of prostitution activity.\u00a0 At that point, law enforcement opens an investigation and follow all leads, including requesting arrest warrants for the alleged perpetrators if necessary.<\/p>\n
Other times, police officers conduct undercover \u201csting\u201d operations.\u00a0 Minnesota courts have routinely held that law enforcement officers may pose as undercover prostitutes in an effort to investigate and prosecute prostitution cases.<\/p>\n
For example, in St. Cloud\/Stearns County, a police officer conducting an undercover prostitution sting may post an advertisement on Backpages.com, Craigslist, Facebook, or other social media platforms posing as a prostitute or a minor prostitute. Internet websites and social media outlets are commonly used to advertise and solicit prostitution, and undercover police officers frequently locate and arrest suspects following online communication.<\/p>\n
Generally, Minnesota courts have allowed police to mislead and even outright lie to individuals attempting to solicit a prostitute. Law enforcement has many powerful tools to investigate and prosecute prostitution in Minnesota.<\/p>\n
In Minnesota, there are three levels of solicitation charges \u2013 misdemeanor, gross misdemeanor and felony \u2013 and each carry serious penalties if convicted.\u00a0 The penalties can vary depending on the circumstances of each case.<\/p>\n
Whoever engages in prostitution with an individual 18 years of age or older or hires, offers to hire, or agrees to hire an individual 18 years of age or older to engage in sexual contact, is guilty of a misdemeanor. Punishment for a misdemeanor is up to 90 days in jail and\/or a $1000 fine. Anyone convicted of a misdemeanor solicitation must, at a minimum, be sentenced to pay a fine of at least $500.<\/p>\n
In Minnesota it is a gross misdemeanor to solicit prostitution in a public place. Whoever, while acting as a patron, intentionally does any of the following while in a public place is guilty of a gross misdemeanor:<\/p>\n
Felony criminal penalties include up to 20 years in prison and a fine up to $40,000 for any solicitation conviction involving:<\/p>\n
Criminal penalties include up to 10 years in prison and a fine up to $20,000 for any conviction involving:<\/p>\n
Criminal penalties include up to 5 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000 for any conviction involving the following:<\/p>\n
Yes.\u00a0 Minnesota courts have recognized several defense to first-time solicitation charges. Anyone unlawfully entrapped into committing prostitution has the right to present the defense at trial. Additionally, the Minnesota Supreme Court identified the legal standard for a prostitution investigation, specifically, whether undercover officer conduct is sufficiently outrageous to violate an individual\u2019s right to due process; in other words, whether undercover police violated someone\u2019s due process rights is determined by the nature of the police officer’s conduct and whether the conduct was legally justified.<\/p>\n
Police in the St. Cloud area, including Waite Park, Sartell, Sauk Rapids and Sauk Center, are continuously investigating individuals soliciting prostitution.\u00a0 Often, police officers receive a tip of prostitution activity.\u00a0 At that point, law enforcement opens an investigation and follow all leads, including requesting arrest warrants for the alleged perpetrators if necessary. Other times, police […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":506,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n