Prostitution; affirmative defense · as in force on May 31, 2026
§ 230.01 Prostitution; affirmative defense.
In any prosecution under section 230.00, section 230.03, section 230.19, section 230.20, subdivision 2 of section 230.25, subdivision 2 of section 230.30 or section 230.34-a of this article, it is an affirmative defense that the defendant's participation in the offense was a result of having been a victim of compelling prostitution under section 230.33 of this article, a victim of sex trafficking under section 230.34 of this article, a victim of sex trafficking of a child under section 230.34-a of this article or a victim of trafficking in persons under the trafficking victims protection act (United States Code, Title 22, Chapter 78).
It is an affirmative defense that the defendant took part in the offense because the defendant was a victim of compelling prostitution (§ 230.33), sex trafficking (§ 230.34), sex trafficking of a child (§ 230.34-a), or trafficking in persons under the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act (22 U.S.C. Chapter 78). ★
Marked in the text: penalties, time limits, sums of money. Editorial emphasis added by this edition; it does not appear in the statute as enacted.
This provision appears in Volume 4 — The Court Clerk: Penal Law; Volume 1 — The Court Officer in Plain English; Volume 3 — The Court Officer: Penal Law; Volume 3 — Your Career: Penal Law in Plain English.