Criminal Jury Instructions Home

7.3-1  Prostitution -- § 53a-82

Revised to May 20, 2011

The defendant is charged [in count __] with prostitution.  The statute defining this offense reads in pertinent part as follows:

a person sixteen years of age or older is guilty of prostitution when such person (engages / agrees / offers to engage) in sexual conduct with another person in return for a fee.

For you to find the defendant guilty of this charge, the state must prove the following elements beyond a reasonable doubt:

Element 1 - Sexual conduct
The first element is that the defendant (engaged / agreed to / offered to engage) in sexual conduct with another person.  The phrase "sexual conduct" is not defined in the law and has its ordinary meaning.¹  Any conduct of a sexual nature intended to gratify another person's sexual desire or sexual pleasure is included within the terms of this statute.  Actual sexual conduct is not necessary for a conviction.  An offer or solicitation or agreement to engage in sexual conduct with another person in return for a fee is sufficient.  Also, gratuitous sex is not within the purview of the statute.

[<Insert if appropriate:>  The sex of the two parties or prospective parties to the sexual conduct engaged in, contemplated, or solicited is immaterial.  Therefore, it is no defense that the persons were of the same sex or that the person who received, agreed to receive, or solicited a fee was a male and the person who paid or agreed or offered to pay such fee was a female.]

Element 2 - Age²
The second element is that the defendant was at least sixteen years of age at the time of the alleged conduct.

Element 3 - Fee
The third element is that the sexual conduct, or the offer of sexual conduct, was in exchange for a fee.  An offer or solicitation or agreement to engage in sexual conduct with another person in return for a fee is sufficient.

[Affirmative Defense3
The statute defining this offense also defines an affirmative defense, which the defendant has raised. <See Affirmative Defense, Instruction 2.9-1.>]

The defendant claims that (he/she) was coerced into committing such offense by another person. The elements of coercion are <refer to Trafficking in Persons, Instruction 6.12-2>.

Conclusion

[<If defendant has not raised the affirmative defense:>
In summary, the state must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that 1) the defendant (engaged / agreed to / offered to engage) in sexual conduct with another person, 2) the defendant was at least sixteen years old at the time, and 3) the sexual conduct was in return for a fee.

If you unanimously find that the state has proved beyond a reasonable doubt each of the elements of the crime of prostitution, then you shall find the defendant guilty.  On the other hand, if you unanimously find that the state has failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt any of the elements, you shall then find the defendant not guilty.]

[<If defendant has raised the affirmative defense:>

If you unanimously find that the state has failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt any of the elements of the crime of prostitution, you shall then find the defendant not guilty and not consider the defendant's affirmative defense.

If you unanimously find that the state has proved beyond a reasonable doubt each of the elements, then you shall consider the defendant's affirmative defense. If you unanimously find that the defendant has proved (his/her) defense by a preponderance of the evidence, then you shall find the defendant not guilty. If you unanimously find that the defendant has not proved (his/her) affirmative defense by a preponderance of the evidence, then you shall find the defendant guilty.]
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¹ State v. Allen, 37 Conn. Sup. 506, 510-11 (App. Sess. 1980).

² This element was added by P.A. No. 10-115, § 1, effective October 1, 2010. The public act also added subsection (c), which provides that if the defendant is sixteen or seventeen years of age, "there shall be a presumption that the actor was coerced into committing such offense by another person in violation of section 53a-192a."

³ The affirmative defense was added by P.A. No. 10-115, § 1, effective October 1, 2010.

Commentary

The constitutionality of § 53a-82 has been upheld in State v. Butkus, 37 Conn. Sup. 515 (App. Sess. 1980), and State v. Allen, 37 Conn. Sup. 506, 510-11 (App. Sess. 1980).

The mental state required is only the general intent to do the proscribed act.  State v. Butkus, supra, 37 Conn. Sup. 517-19; State v. Allen, supra, 37 Conn. Sup. 513 n.4.