Prostitution – Defenses

(a) A person commits an offense under this section who engages in prostitution. (a)(38) or a specific statute exists covering the same or similar conduct. See Tennessee Code 39-11-106(b) (1) Prostitution is a Class B misdemeanor. (2) Prostitution committed within one hundred feet (100′) of a church or within one and one-half (11/2) miles of a school, such distance being that established by § 49-6-2101, for state-funded school transportation, is a Class A misdemeanor. (3) A person convicted of prostitution within one and one-half (11/2) miles of a school shall, in addition to any other authorized punishment, be sentenced to at least seven (7) days of incarceration and be fined at least one thousand dollars ($1,000). (c) As used in subsection (b), “school” means all public and private schools that conduct classes in any grade from kindergarten through grade twelve (K-12). (d) Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary, if it is determined after a reasonable detention for investigative purposes, that a person suspected of or charged with a violation of this section is under eighteen (18) years of age, that person is immune from prosecution for prostitution as a juvenile or adult. A law enforcement officer who takes a person under eighteen (18) years of age into custody for a suspected violation of this section shall, upon determination that the person is a minor, provide the minor with the telephone number for the Tennessee human trafficking resource center hotline, notify the department of children’s services, and release the minor to the custody of a parent or legal guardian or transport the minor to a shelter care facility designated by the juvenile court judge to facilitate the release of the minor to the custody of a parent or legal guardian. (e) It is a defense to prosecution under this section that a person charged with a violation of this section was so charged for conduct that occurred because the person was a victim of an act committed in violation of § 39-13-307 or § 39-13-309, or because the person was a victim as defined under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (22 U.S.C. § 7102).