"The Anaheim business advertising itself as a tanning and hot towel salon was raided by Westminster Police on Friday. Police arrested a woman who they allege was running the location and also found two female employees and one male client. The client was arrested for being in a house of ill repute, a misdemeanor."
from the Orange County [CA] Register
I have never heard of this. It looks like you can be arrested just for being in a massage parlor? That can't be a state law, can it?
Cities, towns and states can pass any damn law they choose. It's up to a defendant to prove that it is unconstitutional. I'm no expert on the laws of Orange County or California, but it wouldn't surprise me if such a law existed in many places.
Not that it would provide much solice, but I suppose if you wanted to fight it, you could appeal to judge's or jury's sense of fair play and make a case that the prosecution needs to prove that you were there to engage in prostitution and not just for a suntan or massage which, after all, is what the place officially offers.
Whether they buy it or not is a different story but you can always appeal up to the Supreme Court if you wish.
There is no mention of an arrest for being present in a house of ill repute in the linked newspaper article. Do you have another link to an article where such an arrest is reported?
My quote is not from the text of the article, but in the caption of one of the accompanying photos, if you click through their slide show (it's the one that goes to the guy in cuffs being led to the paddy wagon/van).
While it may be just ignorance on the part of the reporter (if you know the reporter in question, that is a distinct possibility), if there is such a statute on the books, that jurisdiction has a tool that could be wielded with telling effect. Imagine, they don't even have to prove solicitation or anything else, other than "he (or she) was there."
I think it's called frequenting a bawdy house or some such thing. They have to show that prostitution was taking place, but then they can get you even if fully clothed. There must be some need to show knowledge of the situation for conviction.
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