Sting Operation At Massage Parlors Leads To Two Arrests On Sex Crime Charges

Trust is the magic ingredient in true intimacy, but it is so elusive that you cannot buy it at any price. Love is a subtle exchange of incomprehensible symbols and the disclosure of unknowable intentions. Commercial sex, by contrast, is a straightforward transaction, at least in theory. The problem is that it is illegal, so anyone who wishes to buy or sell sexual intimacy must resort to the same innuendos and ambiguous symbols that people use when they are trying to buy or sell drugs. Your drug dealer knows what you mean when you text him “good morning” with a green heart, whereas your grandma would interpret that as a simple friendly greeting, rather than a request for cannabis. Therefore, houses of ill repute often look like legitimate businesses, and sometimes they act like them, too. You cannot be convicted of offering commercial sex or soliciting prostitution simply because you were present at a massage parlor or strip club; the prosecution will have to prove that you said words that unambiguously constitute an offer of or request for commercial sex. If you are being accused of offering commercial sex, when you were simply at your workplace, doing your G-rated job, contact a Pittsburgh sex crime lawyer.

Does the Entrapment Defense Work in a Sting Operation?

With sexual offenses as with drug crimes, arrests often arise from sting operations. People report their suspicions of illegal activity in a certain place or by a certain person to police, and the police conduct a sting operation to see if the suspicions are justified. An undercover officer will go to the place or contact the person and propose an illegal transaction. If the person responds in a way that furthers the transaction, the officer has enough evidence to make an arrest. In a drug case, you can still be convicted after a sting operation if no drugs change hands, and in a prostitution sting, you can be convicted even if no sexual activities occur. The entrapment defense does not work here, because no one coerced you to commit the crime; you simply acted the way you would if a real client had approached you.

In the News

After hearing reports that two massage parlors in western Pennsylvania were operating as venues for prostitution, police conducted a sting operation. In May, an undercover officer went to a massage parlor in Lower Burrell and paid for a massage. After the massage, the employee offered to engage in sexual acts for an additional charge, but the officer refused. The offer was enough to constitute a crime. The same scenario played out in September at a massage parlor in Murrysville. Now two women are facing criminal charges for offering commercial sexual favors.

Contact Gary E. Gerson About Criminal Defense Cases

A criminal defense lawyer can help you if you are facing criminal charges for offering commercial sex.  Contact the law offices of Gary E. Gerson in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania about your case.

Source:

triblive.com/local/valley-news-dispatch/two-charged-in-prostitution-sting-at-massage-parlors-in-lower-burrell-murrysville/