Appeals court toughens pimp law

Jace Radke

Monday, Feb. 12, 2001 | 10:49 a.m.

Pimps who bring underage prostitutes across state lines can be prosecuted, even if they did not know the woman's age, thanks to a federal appeals court ruling.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued the opinion last week in the appeal of convicted Las Vegas pimp Andre Taylor.

The opinion, written by Chief Judge Mary Schroeder, addressed Taylor's contention that to be convicted of transporting a minor across state lines for prostitution, the government had to prove that the transporter knew that the person was underage.

"Ignorance of the victim's age provides no safe harbor," Schroeder wrote. "If someone knowingly transports a person for the purposes of prostitution or another sex offense, the transporter assumes the risk that the victim is a minor, regardless of what the victim says or how the victim appears."

Taylor was sentenced to 5 1/2 years in prison in January 2000 by U.S. District Judge Howard McKibben after being convicted of seven prostitution-related counts, four involving a 16-year-old girl.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom O'Connell said that the opinion will help to gain convictions for prostitution on a federal level, where there are harsher sentences and greater resources for investigating cases that cross state lines.

"It was something that had been previously unsettled," O'Connell said. "Now we know that the government does not have to prove that the defendant had knowledge that they were transporting a minor."

Taylor met the 16-year-old in Las Vegas in May 1997, and purchased airline tickets so the two could travel to San Francisco, where she worked as a prostitute and was arrested, according to court records.

The girl was sent to live with her grandmother in Florida, but Taylor then arranged for her to fly back to Las Vegas, where she again was a prostitute, and the pair reportedly later flew to Phoenix to obtain false identification for the girl.

Taylor contended in his appeal that prosecutors needed to prove he knew that the girl was a minor when he was traveling with her, pointing to wording in the U.S. Code.

The law states, "A person who knowingly transports an individual who has not attained the age of 18 years in interstate, or foreign commerce, or in any commonwealth, territory or possession of the United States, with intent that the individual engage in prostitution," will be prosecuted.

The appeals court opinion states that the knowledge in the law applies to the transportation of the person rather than the age of the person transported.