Pandering & Pimping (Pen. Code, § 266h)
Pandering or Pimping and Prostitution transactions may involve charges against the provider of sexual services (prostitutes), the person paying for those services (solicitation of prostitution), or any middleman (for "pandering" or "pimping,").
Pimping (Pen. Code, § 266h) - The defendant is charged with pimping violation of Penal Code section 266h. To prove that the defendant is guilty of pimping, the People must prove that:
1. The defendant knew that the individual was a prostitute; AND
2. The (money/proceeds) that the individual earned as a prostitute supported defendant, in whole or in part or the defendant asked for payment or received payment for soliciting prostitution customers for a prostitute
(a person who engages in sexual intercourse or any lewd act with another person in exchange for money or other compensation).
General Intent
The three ways of violating Penal Code section 266h are all general intent crimes, as held in People v. McNulty
(1988) 202 Cal.App.3d 624, 630–631 [249 Cal.Rptr. 22]: Deriving support with knowledge that the other person is a prostitute is all that is required for violating the section in this manner. No specific intent is required. Receiving compensation for soliciting with knowledge that the other person is a prostitute is the only requirement under the first alternative of violating section 266h by solicitation. Under the second alternative to pimping by soliciting (soliciting compensation), . . . if the accused has solicited for the prostitute and has solicited
compensation even though he had not intended to receive compensation, he would nevertheless be guilty of pimping. Pimping in all its forms is not a specific intent crime.
House of Prostitution
One room of a building or other place is sufficient to constitute a house of prostitution, and one person may keep such a place to which others resort for purposes of prostitution. (People v. Frey
(1964) 228 Cal.App.2d 33, 53 [39 Cal.Rptr. 49]; see Aguilera v. Superior Court
(1969) 273 Cal.App.2d 848, 852 [78 Cal.Rptr. 736].)
Receiving Support
A conviction for living or deriving support from a prostitute’s earnings does not require evidence that the defendant received money directly from the prostitute, or that the defendant used money received from the prostitution solely to pay his or her own living expenses. (People v. Navarro
(1922) 60 Cal.App. 180, 182 [212 P. 403].)
Pandering (Pen. Code, § 266i) - The defendant is charged with pandering in violation of Penal Code section 266i. To prove that the defendant is guilty of pandering, the Prosecution must prove that:
1. The defendant persuaded or procured the individual to be a prostitute;
2. The defendant used a promise, threat, violence, or any device or scheme to cause/persuade/encourage/induce the individual to become a prostitute; OR
3. The defendant arranged/procured a position for the individual to be a prostitute in either a
house of prostitution or any other place where prostitution is encouraged or allowed.