Prostitution & Solicitation Charges in Miami

Dennis Gonzalez Jr. is a former Miami-Dade prosecutor who has been defending people since 2012. Everything you tell us is confidential. Our office answers 24 hours a day.

What Florida Law Prohibits

Florida's main prostitution statute is section 796.07. It defines prostitution as the giving or receiving of the body for sexual activity for hire, excluding sexual activity between spouses. It also defines assignation as the making of any appointment or engagement for prostitution or lewdness, or any act in furtherance of such an appointment or engagement.

Among other things, the statute makes it unlawful:

• For a person 18 or older to offer to commit, or to commit, or to engage in, prostitution, lewdness, or assignation.
• To solicit, induce, entice, or procure another to commit prostitution, lewdness, or assignation.
• To purchase the services of any person engaged in prostitution.
• To own, establish, maintain, or operate any place, structure, building, or conveyance for prostitution, lewdness, or assignation.
• To offer, or agree to secure, another person for prostitution.
• To direct, take, or transport a person somewhere, knowing or with reasonable cause to believe the purpose is prostitution, lewdness, or assignation.
• To enter or remain in a place or vehicle for the purpose of prostitution, lewdness, or assignation.
• To aid, abet, or participate in any of these acts.

Penalties: Two Different Ladders

Soliciting, inducing, enticing, or procuring another to commit prostitution, lewdness, or assignation:

• First violation: first-degree misdemeanor.
• Second violation: third-degree felony.
• Third or later violation: second-degree felony.

The statute has one provision for soliciting and a separate one for purchasing the services of a person engaged in prostitution. Which one is charged decides which ladder applies.

Every other offense in section 796.07, including offering to commit or committing prostitution, purchasing services, and operating a place for prostitution:

• First violation: second-degree misdemeanor.
• Second violation: first-degree misdemeanor.
• Third or later violation: third-degree felony.
• A person charged with a third or later violation on this ladder shall be offered admission to a pretrial intervention program or a substance abuse treatment program, as provided by law.

Massage establishments. If the place operated for prostitution is a massage establishment that is or should be licensed, each level on the second ladder is raised one degree.

Mandatory Penalties for Solicitation

If you are convicted of soliciting, inducing, enticing, or procuring, the statute requires, in addition to any other sentence:

• 100 hours of community service.
• Paying for and attending an educational program, if the judicial circuit where you are sentenced has one. Since July 1, 2023, a circuit may set up a program covering the link between demand for commercial sex and human trafficking, the impact on victims, coercion and consent, health and legal consequences, and related topics. A program may be offered by a faith-based provider.
• A 10-day minimum mandatory jail term for a second or later solicitation conviction.

There is also a $5,000 civil penalty for solicitation. It applies if the violation results in any judicial disposition other than acquittal or dismissal.

Vehicle Impoundment

If a person used a vehicle in the course of a solicitation violation, the judge, upon conviction, may order the vehicle impounded or immobilized for up to 60 days. The registered owner, if it is someone other than the defendant, and any lienholder must be notified by certified mail.

The owner can ask the court to dismiss the order. The court must dismiss it, at no cost to the owner, if the court finds that:

• the owner's family has no other private or public means of transportation;
• the vehicle was stolen at the time of the offense;
• the owner bought the vehicle after the offense, and not to get around the order; or
• the vehicle is owned by the defendant but driven only by employees of the defendant or of the defendant's business.

If the request is denied, the owner may ask for an evidentiary hearing.

A felony charge can also expose property, including a vehicle, to forfeiture under the Florida Contraband Forfeiture Act. That is a separate civil process with its own deadlines. See Reverse Sting Operations.

STD and HIV Testing

Section 796.08 adds testing rules:

• A person arrested under section 796.07 may request screening for sexually transmissible diseases, at his or her own cost, and if infected must submit to treatment and counseling.
• A person convicted of prostitution or of procuring another to commit prostitution must be screened, including for HIV. If infected, the person must complete treatment and counseling before release from probation, community control, or incarceration. The results may be shared with the offender, medical personnel, certain agencies, prosecutors, and courts.
• Committing prostitution, or procuring another for prostitution, after testing positive for a sexually transmissible disease and knowing it could be passed on is a separate first-degree misdemeanor. For HIV, committing or offering to commit prostitution, or procuring another for prostitution by sexual activity likely to transmit HIV, after knowingly testing positive, is criminal transmission of HIV, a third-degree felony.

Renting Space and Deriving Support

• Renting space (section 796.06): letting or renting any place, structure, trailer, or other conveyance knowing it will be used for lewdness, assignation, or prostitution is a first-degree misdemeanor for a first violation and a third-degree felony for a second or later.
• Deriving support (section 796.05): living on, or deriving support from, what is believed to be another person's prostitution earnings, by someone who knows or reasonably believes the other person is engaged in prostitution. A second-degree felony for a first offense, a first-degree felony for a second, and a first-degree felony with a 10-year mandatory minimum for a third or later.

When the State believes force, coercion, or a minor is involved, the charge can become human trafficking. See Human Trafficking Charges.

Online and Text-Message Cases

Section 796.07 does not create a separate offense for arranging prostitution online. Its definition of assignation covers making any appointment or engagement for prostitution, or any act in furtherance of one, however it is made. In practice, many cases begin with an ad, an app, or a text exchange with an undercover officer.

Two evidence rules in the statute matter here:

• A police officer may testify as an offended party in a prostitution case.
• Reputation testimony about the place, the people who frequent it, and the defendant is admissible in support of the charge.

If the person on the other end is a minor, or someone the accused believed was a minor, the case is a different and far more serious one. See Sex Crimes Defense.

The Public Solicitation Database Is Gone

Until it expired, Florida law required that the criminal history record of a person found guilty of solicitation, or who pleaded guilty or no contest to it, regardless of whether adjudication was withheld, be included in a state Soliciting for Prostitution Public Database when there was evidence the person paid or arranged payment. That paragraph of section 796.07 and the database statute were both repealed by their own terms on January 1, 2024, and the Legislature removed both from the statutes in 2024.

Section 796.07 itself is not on Florida's sexual offender registration list in section 943.0435. Other charges that can come out of the same investigation are.

Immigration Consequences

Federal immigration law makes a person inadmissible who has engaged in prostitution within 10 years of applying for a visa, admission, or adjustment of status, or who within that period procured or tried to procure prostitutes, or received any part of the proceeds of prostitution. The provision's words speak of having engaged in the conduct; they do not say a conviction is required. An offense relating to owning, controlling, managing, or supervising a prostitution business is listed as an aggravated felony.

If you are not a U.S. citizen, get immigration advice before any plea, diversion admission, or statement. See Immigration Consequences of Criminal Charges.

If You Were a Victim of Trafficking

A person who was a victim of human trafficking may petition to expunge the record of an arrest or charge for offenses committed as part of the trafficking scheme, or at the direction of its operator, including prostitution offenses under chapter 796, regardless of how the case ended. Official documentation of victim status creates a presumption; without it, the showing must be by clear and convincing evidence. Certain serious violent felonies (such as murder, sexual battery, robbery, kidnapping, and armed burglary) are excluded.

How We Defend These Cases

• What was actually said. Solicitation turns on the words. We get the full recording, chat log, or text thread, not the summary in the report.
• Who raised it first. In undercover cases, whether the officer pushed someone who was not ready to commit the crime is the question behind the entrapment defense. See Reverse Sting Operations.
• The stop and the search. How you were approached, detained, and searched, including your phone. See Motions to Suppress.
• Prior violations. The penalty ladder depends on the count of prior violations. We check every one the State relies on.
• Collateral damage. Mandatory penalties, the civil penalty, the vehicle, immigration, and professional licenses are all part of the negotiation.

What to Do Right Now

1. Don't talk about the arrest with police, and don't text anyone about it.
2. Preserve your phone as it is. Don't delete messages, apps, or ads. Deleting can create new problems. Let your lawyer handle it.
3. If your vehicle was taken, keep every notice you receive. Some deadlines are short.
4. Call us. If you or a loved one is still in custody, see Bond & Nebbia Hearings. If there is a warrant, we can often arrange a surrender. See Turning Yourself In.

Why Choose Dennis Gonzalez Law, P.A.

• Former Miami-Dade prosecutor.
• Defending people since 2012.
• Super Lawyers recognition and an Avvo Rating of 10.0.
• Bilingual office — se habla español.
• We answer 24 hours a day. Call (305) 209-0384.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is soliciting a felony in Florida?

A first violation is a first-degree misdemeanor. A second is a third-degree felony, and a third or later is a second-degree felony.

Is there a mandatory penalty on a first offense?

Yes. A solicitation conviction requires 100 hours of community service and, if your circuit has one, a paid educational program. A $5,000 civil penalty applies to any disposition other than acquittal or dismissal.

Can they take my car?

On a solicitation conviction, the judge may order the vehicle impounded or immobilized for up to 60 days, and the owner can ask the court to dismiss the order on specific grounds. Felony cases can also raise forfeiture issues.

Will I be listed as a sex offender?

Section 796.07 is not on Florida's sexual offender registration list. The public solicitation database was repealed effective January 1, 2024.

I was arrested after texting with an undercover officer. Do I have a defense?

Possibly. It depends on what the messages actually say, who raised what, and how the officer behaved. Entrapment is a statutory defense in Florida.

How fast can you help?

Our office answers 24 hours a day. Call (305) 209-0384.