Felony Child Prostitution Reduced to Class 6 Open/Misdemeanor Attempted Child Abuse with Probation and 15 Days in Jail with Work Furlough/Release – State v. Mr. W (DMC No. 12253) (Maricopa County Superior Court CR2013-458386): Mr. W responded to an ad on Backpage.com for an escort. Sometime during the conversation, an undercover Detective posing as an escort stated she was 16 years old. Mr. W asked for a picture of her ID to show she was actually 18. That was never sent to him. However, he was sent pictures by the undercover Officer of females in lingerie with their heads cropped out of the photo. He arranged for a meeting with the escort, but he never showed up. He then had six other text messages the next day, and then eventually agreed to meet for a “quickie” for $60 at a motel. When he arrived at the motel, he could clearly see that the undercover Officer was closer to 30 years old. He said he was not going to talk about sex acts and only wanted to lay down and cuddle. When the escort refused, he got up and was immediately tackled by Officers who came in from the outside.
We showed the Prosecutor that they would have a very difficult time proving that he actually had the intent to sleep with an underage prostitute. They realized that they could easily lose at trial. However, if they did secure conviction, Mr. W would be facing 7 to 21 years in prison per Arizona Revised Statute 3212. Ultimately, they agreed to offer a Class 6 Open/Misdemeanor Attempt charge with Probation and 15 days jail with work furlough/release. At the conclusion of the Probation, Mr. W’s charge was converted to a Misdemeanor. He has no felony conviction on his record.