Michigan law, MCL 750.448, makes it illegal to solicit someone for lewd or immoral purposes.

Another words, MCL 750.448 makes it illegal to ask someone to commit prostitution.The actual act of prostitution in Michigan is governed by MCL 750.449a, which makes it illegal to engage in a sexual or lewd act in exchange for money or some other form of consideration. This offense has an enhancement if the person you engage in the act of prostitution with is under the age of 18. MCL 750.449a(2).

MCL 750.450 makes it illegal to help someone else engage in prostitution.

Prostitution and Solicitation Penalties in Michigan

Under MCL 750.451, the maximum penalty for soliciting prostitution, engaging in prostitution, or aiding someone in the act of prostitution is up to 93 days in jail and a fine of up to $500 plus costs

Additional penalties could include counseling, community service, drug and alcohol testing, and up to two years of probation.

A second offense for any of the crimes listed above is up to a year in the county jail and a fine of $1,000.00 plus costs, MCL 750.451(2). A third offense for prostitution or solicitation is a felony punishable by up to two years in prison and a find of $2,000.00.

If you are convicted under MCL 750.449a(2) for engaging in the act of prostitution with someone under the age of 18 then the penalty is a 5-year felony with a fine of up to $10,000.00.

If you are being accused of being a pimp by accepting money or something of value from the proceeds of a person engaged in prostitution you face a 20-year felony under MCL 750.457.

If you are charged with prostitution in the City of Detroit the consequences are different than if you were charged in other parts of the state. Detroit has its own code of ordinances. Chapter 38, Article 9, sections 1 through 7 list “Indecent and Immoral Conduct”.

Sec. 38-9-1 defines prostitution and solicitation / accosting in Detroit.

Prostitution in Detroit is defined as engaging in the act of providing sexual favors, sexual intercourse, any act involving contacting the genitals of another, or any other act which a reasonable person would consider to be an act of a sexual nature, in exchange for any form of consideration be it money, or other thing of value.

Accosting is defined by approaching and communicating, by word, gesture, or any other means, with another person or persons without having been communicated to first.

Prostitution, Solicitation and Accosting Penalties in Detroit

It is illegal under Sec. 38-9-4(a) to solicit someone in public to commit an act of prostitution. The actual act of prostitution is illegal under Detroit City Ordinance Sec. 38-9-5.

The penalty for soliciting is a minimum jail sentence of 45 days and a maximum jail sentence of 90 days plus a fine of $500.00.

If you are under the age of 18 and accused of engaging in prostitution there is a presumption that another person coerced you into engaging in this behavior, MCL 750.451(6).

MCL 750.449a has a built in defense, and that is that you cannot commit an act of prostitution with your spouse.

As of June 2017, law enforcement preforming their duties as an officer cannot be convicted of any of the crimes listed above. MCL 750.451a.

If you are accused of being the prostitute, and it is your first offense, your lawyer can petition the court to have your case sealed from the public, and dismissed under MCL 750.451c. If you are granted the special status under MCL 750.451c you will not have a criminal conviction for prostitution.

Are lap dances illegal in the city of Detroit?

In the city of Detroit it is illegal to get a lap dance at a sexually oriented business, or strip club.

These establishments are supposed to have signs that state touching the dancers is illegal. These strip clubs even have designated areas for the strippers to give lap dances even when it is illegal. Regardless, the laws of the city make lap dances illegal.

• Detroit Code of Ordinance Section 5-15-7 lists prohibited conduct inside an adult cabaret (strip club). Of the prohibited conduct that is listed, paragraph 4 states:

No patron shall knowingly or intentionally touch an employee who appears semi-nude on the premises of a sexually-oriented business.

What is the penalty for touching a stripper in Detroit?

If you were at a Detroit strip club and received a ticket while getting a lap dance the ticket likely came from Vice enforcement and states:

Prohibited Conduct: Patron knowingly or intentionally touch an employee who appears semi-nude on the premises of a sexually-oriented business. 5-15-7(4).

The penalty for touching a stripper in Detroit is a criminal misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail, fines, costs, and probation.

 The penalty can be found at the Detroit Code of Ordinances at 5-15-9(a).

Unlawful touching a stripper defense lawyer

Most of our clients do not want to go to trial on these charges out of embarrassment and because they want to keep the matter as private as possible. We do everything we can to resolve these cases as quickly as possible and in a way that ultimately results in a dismissal.

Of course, if you want to fight the charge we are more than happy to take these cases to trial.

In 2010 the Detroit City Counsel voted to make it illegal for strip clubs to have VIP rooms and for patrons to have physical contact with strippers. That’s right, it is illegal to get a lap dance in a Detroit strip club despite having areas for that purpose that the club still uses in violation of the law.

Many strip clubs are regularly raided by Detroit Police or VICE squad. When the police enter a VIP area they will ticket both the dancer as well as the patron for being in these prohibited areas. The charge is Indecent Obscene Conduct.

The penalty for Indecent Obscene Conduct is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 93 days in jail and a fine of up to $500 plus costs. 

In these cases our firm has been successful in getting these charges dismissed.

Indecent exposure is governed by Michigan law, MCL 750.335a. The law states that the prosecutor must be able to prove that you exposed your private body part and that you knew that you was exposing your private body part.

Indecent Exposure Penalty

• If convicted of this offense you face up to a year in jail and a fine of $1,000.00 under MCL 750.335a(2)(a). There is a scenario where you could face

up to two years in prison and a fine of up to $2,000.00

if the prosecutor can prove in addition to the two elements mentioned above that you were fondling your genitals, pubic area, buttocks, or breasts and that you did this in a place under circumstances in which another person might reasonably have been expected to observe it and which created a substantial risk that someone might be offended or in a place where such exposure is likely to be an offense against your community’s generally accepted standards of decency and morality. MCL 750.335a(2)(b)

If a person observing is a minor then the stakes really go up as it is a tier 1 sex offense under the Sex Offenders Registration Act which would require 15 years of registering as a sex offender. MCL 28.722(s)(ii)

• • A conviction for this offense can also result in a non-citizen being deported.

  Padilla v Kentucky 559

  US 356, 369 (2010).