Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Experts: Plan for Nevada ‘virgin auction’ could face legal trouble

CARSON CITY - An Australian filmmaker's plan to bring women and men to Nevada for a "virginity auction" could run into legal trouble, according to representatives of the state's legal brothels.

According to the Sydney Daily Telegraph, Melbourne filmmaker Justin Sisely has spent more than a year recruiting virgins willing to auction themselves on camera and has decided to move the event to Nevada because he could face prostitution charges in Australia.

He told the newspaper he now plans face-to-face auctions in Nevada.

George Flint, lobbyist for many of Nevada's brothels, said "bringing women across state lines" for prostitution could put Sisely in violation of the Mann Act. Flint, a wedding chapel owner in Reno and lobbyist for the Nevada Brothel Owners Association, said the federal law prohibits taking women across state lines for prostitution.

"He could be walking into real trouble," Flint said.

Bobbi Davis, owner of the Shady Lady Ranch in Nye County, agreed: "I think the feds will get him."

Sisley wants to make a documentary based on the auction of the virgins, who would be paid $20,000 and receive 90 percent of their "sale price." The brothel where the auction is held would collect the remaining 10 percent.

Flint said as far as he knows Sisley has not contacted any Nevada brothels, which are located in rural counties that have legalized prostitution. Prostitution is illegal in Clark and Washoe counties, the state's population centers.

Sisley says males would also be auctioned off, but Flint said based on the recent experience of the state's first male prostitute, that would be a "flop." The male prostitute had "four customers in five weeks and one was a journalist from New York" who was only there for a story, he said.

Sisley also faces obstacles with advertising. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals this year upheld two Nevada laws that bar legal brothels from advertising by newspaper, leaflet or billboard in Las Vegas, Reno and other places where prostitution is illegal.

The law was challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union, the Shady Lady Ranch and the newspapers High Desert Advocate and Las Vegas CityLife.

The ACLU is asking the appeals court to reconsider its ruling.

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy