Penal Law § 230.10

Prostitution and patronizing a person for prostitution; no defense · as in force on May 31, 2026

§ 230.10 Prostitution and patronizing a person for prostitution; no

defense.

In any prosecution for prostitution or patronizing a person for prostitution, the sex of the two parties or prospective parties to the sexual conduct engaged in, contemplated or solicited is immaterial, and it is no defense that:

1. Such persons were of the same sex; or

2. 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.

Official sourcehttps://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/PEN/230.10

In plain English

In a prosecution for prostitution or patronizing a person for prostitution, the parties’ sexes do not matter. ★

(1) It is no defense that the parties were the same sex.
(2) It is also no defense that a male received or sought the fee and a female paid, agreed, or offered to pay it.

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.

In print

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.