Montana Code Annotated 2019

TITLE 45. CRIMES

CHAPTER 5. OFFENSES AGAINST THE PERSON

Part 6. Offenses Against the Family

Promoting Prostitution

45-5-602. Promoting prostitution. (1) A person commits the offense of promoting prostitution if the person purposely or knowingly commits any of the following acts:

(a) owns, controls, manages, supervises, resides in, or otherwise keeps, alone or in association with others, a house of prostitution or a prostitution business;

(b) procures an individual for a house of prostitution or a place in a house of prostitution for an individual;

(c) encourages, induces, or otherwise purposely causes another to become or remain a prostitute;

(d) solicits clients for another person who is a prostitute;

(e) procures a prostitute for a patron;

(f) transports an individual into or within this state with the purpose to promote that individual's engaging in prostitution or procures or pays for transportation with that purpose;

(g) leases or otherwise permits a place controlled by the offender, alone or in association with others, to be regularly used for prostitution or for the procurement of prostitution or fails to make reasonable effort to abate that use by ejecting the tenant, notifying law enforcement authorities, or using other legally available means; or

(h) lives in whole or in part upon the earnings of an individual engaging in prostitution, unless the person is the prostitute's minor child or other legal dependent incapable of self-support.

(2) Except as provided in subsections (3) and (4), a person convicted of promoting prostitution shall be fined an amount not to exceed $50,000 or be imprisoned in a state prison for a term not to exceed 10 years, or both.

(3) (a) If the person engaging in prostitution was a child and the offender was 18 years of age or older at the time of the offense, whether or not the offender was aware of the child's age, the offender:

(i) shall be punished by imprisonment in a state prison for a term of 100 years. The court may not suspend execution or defer imposition of the first 25 years of a sentence of imprisonment imposed under this subsection (3)(a)(i) except as provided in 46-18-222, and during the first 25 years of imprisonment, the offender is not eligible for parole.

(ii) may be fined an amount not to exceed $50,000; and

(iii) shall be ordered to enroll in and successfully complete the educational phase and the cognitive and behavioral phase of a sexual offender treatment program provided or approved by the department of corrections.

(b) If the offender is released after the mandatory minimum period of imprisonment, the offender is subject to supervision by the department of corrections for the remainder of the offender's life and shall participate in the program for continuous, satellite-based monitoring provided for in 46-23-1010.

(4) If the person engaging in prostitution was a victim of human trafficking, as defined in 45-5-701, or was subjected to force, fraud, or coercion, either of which caused the person to be in the situation where the offense occurred, and the offender was 18 years of age or older at the time of the offense and knew or reasonably should have known that the person was a victim of human trafficking or was subjected to force, fraud, or coercion, the offender:

(a) shall be punished by imprisonment in a state prison for a term of not more than 20 years; and

(b) may be fined an amount not to exceed $50,000.

History: En. 94-5-603 by Sec. 1, Ch. 513, L. 1973; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 2, L. 1975; R.C.M. 1947, 94-5-603(part); amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 312, L. 2001; amd. Sec. 9, Ch. 483, L. 2007; amd. Sec. 6, Ch. 374, L. 2013; amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 308, L. 2019.