I. PC 266i: Pandering Laws

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Legal Definition: Any person who does any of the following is guilty of pandering:

(1) Procures another person for the purpose of prostitution.

(2) By promises, threats, violence, or by any device or scheme, causes, induces, persuades, or encourages another person to become a prostitute.

(3) Procures for another person a place as an inmate in a house of prostitution or as an inmate of any place in which prostitution is encouraged or allowed within this state.

(4) By promises, threats, violence, or by any device or scheme, causes, induces, persuades, or encourages an inmate of a house of prostitution, or any other place in which prostitution is encouraged or allowed, to remain therein as an inmate.

(5) By fraud or artifice, or by duress of person or goods, or by abuse of any position of confidence or authority, procures another person for the purpose of prostitution, or to enter any place in which prostitution is encouraged or allowed within this state, or to come into this state or leave this state for the purpose of prostitution.

(6) Receives or gives, or agrees to receive or give, any money or thing of value for procuring, or attempting to procure, another person for the purpose of prostitution, or to come into this state or leave this state for the purpose of prostitution.

For a person to be convicted of a violation of PC 266i, the prosecution must prove the following:

1. You persuaded, or used threats or duress, to cause a person to become or remain a prostitute,

AND

2. You intended to influence the person to be a prostitute.

II. What does this mean?

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A prostitute is a person who engages in sexual intercourse or any lewd act with another person in exchange for money or other compensation. A lewd act means physical contact of the genitals, buttocks, or female breast of either the prostitute or customer with some part of the other person’s body for the purpose of sexual arousal or gratification.

Duress means a direct or implied threat of force, violence, danger, hardship, or retribution that would cause a reasonable person to do or submit to something that he or she would not do or submit to otherwise. The difference between pimping and pandering is that a pimp under PC 266i(a) derives monetary support from a prostitute, whereas a panderer influences another person to become a prostitute. A panderer does not necessarily derive monetary support from the prostitute. In many cases, however, these two charges are charged together; i.e. Pimping and Pandering.

III. Penalties

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Penalties for PC 266i depend on what subsection your case or charge falls under.

1. PC 266i: This is a felony charge. If you are convicted under this section, you could be sentenced to State Prison for up to three, four, or six years. You would be required to serve 50% of that time in custody. This section under Pandering law is not a Strike offense under California’s Three Strike Law. However, you would be required to register as a Sex Offender under this section.

2. PC 266i(b)(1): This is a felony charge when the pandering is done to minors over the age of 16, but younger than 18 years old. If you are convicted under this section, you could be sentenced to State Prison for up to three, four, or six years. You would be required to serve 50% of that time in custody. This section under Pandering law is a Strike offense under California’s Three Strike Law. In addition, you will also be required to register as a Sex Offender for life.

3. PC 266i(b)(2): This is a felony charge when the pandering is done to a minor under the age of 16 years old. If you are convicted under this section, you could be sentenced to State Prison for up to three, six, or eight years. You would be required to serve 50% of that time in custody. This section under Pandering law is a Strike offense under California’s Three Strike Law. In addition, you will also be required to register as a Sex Offender for life.

PC 266i(a) is considered a crime of moral turpitude, which means that pandering is considered a morally wrong act and carries special punishments for non-U.S. citizens and people who possess professional licenses. 

IV. Common Defenses

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1. Statute of Limitations
2. Insufficient Evidence
3. Mistake of Fact
4. Violation of Rights
5. False Accusations
6. Coerced Confessions

The difference as indicated above is pandering is generally involving someone recruiting or forcing another person to become a prostitute. As explained above, the difference between this charge and pimping is that the person that panders does not need to get their income from the person they prostitute. However, as explained, many times these two charges are charged concurrently against another person. Thus, if you are a person that induces another to engage in prostitution, and at the same time, obtains the money from those prostitution services, you could be found guilty under both sections here. 

However, under this section, a requirement for pandering is the aspect of persuasion or some kind of threat. Forcing a person to become a prostitute can be easily found through circumstantial and even direct evidence of conduct. You could not be found guilty under this section, for example, if you were merely suggesting or jokingly referring the person into prostitution. A common example of that would be a person suffering from gigantic student loans and feeling unable to pay them. If you were to make a joke that they should become a prostitute to start paying those loans off, and they do, then you still could not be found guilty under this section. It requires a more overt action taken by you, and that you have to have intended the person to become a prostitute, not made a joke about their student loans. If the prosecution cannot show that you intended for the person to become a prostitute, then you cannot be found guilty under this section, since there would be Insufficient Evidence to prove you guilty of the crime.

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