New York Criminal Attorney Blog

New York Criminal defense lawyers Peter Tilem & John Campbell continue their radio show entitled "Law Talk" tonight at 8 pm on the Centanni Broadcasting Network. Tonight's topic is "Everything You Wanted To Know About the Prostitution Business (but were afraid to ask)" The show should be very interesting and informative and follow the general format of past shows except that Law Talk is scheduled to have its first guest ever joining lawyers Peter Tilem and John Campbell on the air tonight.

Please tune in tonight live at 8pm or listen on demand by clicking here Listen Live.

As always, if there is a topic you want to here discussed on the air or you want a question answered live, e-mail the question to info@tilemandcampbell.com.

New York Prostitution lawyers are watching a development reported in today's New York Post which reflects a steep decrease in enforcement of prostitution and other vice offenses by the NYPD. The Post is reporting that the NYPD shut down its enforcement of Prostitution on craigslist as long as 3 years ago. The Post is also reporting that other vice operations have been shut down or slowed down because of increased oversight.

Craigslist has a large number of ads catering to adult entertainment. Many of the craigslist ads are for escorts. Escorts are women (or men) who agree to spend time with a person for a fee. While this practice is legal if sex is exchanged it can violate state or federal prostitution laws.

Criminal lawyers John Campbell and Peter Tilem operate a website escortattorney.com which caters to the escort industry and represents, customers, escorts and escort agencies. Tilem & Campbell will continue to monitor these developments as they have a substantial impact on many Tilem & Campbell client's

At the New York Criminal Defense firm of Tilem & Campbell we are seeing increased arrests for prostitution and prostitution related offenses. In addition, we are getting contacted by many women in the escort industry throughout the New York City Metropolitan area by way of our website escortattorney.com who are concerned in the wake of the Elliot Spitzer scandal. One of the topics that we have been addressing with our clients is the issue of massage and massage related terms especially on websites. Many escorts, in an attempt to cover up the true nature of services being provided advertise relating to “intimate massages.” What we are seeing is that women in the escort industry are not aware that practicing the profession of massage without a license or advertising that a person is a masseuse constitutes a felony under the New York Education Law.

Under current New York State law, Prostitution in New York is a class “B” misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail. Under New York Education Law §7801 and §7802 Practice of Massage without a license constitutes the unlawful practice of a profession is a class “E” felony punishable by up to 4 years in prison.

Terminology on a website advertising escort or massage services can be critical since merely using certain terms like “massage therapist”, “masseuse” or “massage” and other terms could subject a person the criminal liability. In the wake of the hysteria in the sex industry caused by the Elliot Spitzer scandal, the lawyers here at Tilem & Campbell have been reviewing and modifying websites for our clients to ensure that they are not inadvertently advertising illegal services or holding themselves out as unlicensed professionals. We are in the process of educating our clients so that they can be in compliance with the law. In addition, Peter Tilem & John Campbell have been drafting certain disclaimers to be added to websites so that it is clear that the website is not advertising illegal service.

Many women do not know that in the event they are arrested, the police will often preserve the website or electronic advertisement which in some cases is used as incriminating evidence against the accused. By paying attention to the information that is being disseminated women can make criminal prosecution less likely and make any prosecution harder to prove.

When in doubt contact a lawyer experienced in this particular area of criminal law to review the material before it is posted on the internet. An ounce of prevention can go a long way.

As promised, here is a the video of New York Criminal Defense Attorney John Campbell commenting on the Governor Spitzer prostitution scandal.

As discussed in my previous post John Campbell, the managing partner here at the White Plains, New York law firm of Tilem & Campbell which owns the domain name escortattorney.com was asked to comment on the scandal and specifically whether Governor Spitzer was likely to be charged. Please see below.

RNN, the Regional News Network just came by the office to get comments from Criminal Defense Lawyer John Campbell the managing partner here at the firm about the prostitution and Mann Act issues in which New York Governor Elliot Spitzer finds himself embroiled. The firm has handled numerous prostitution related cases and while John and I are often the “go to” lawyers here in Westchester County for the media to get their legal comments, it is nice to be able to comment on an issue with which we are so familiar.

Tilem & Campbell, PC owns the web domain name escortattorney.com and has had the opportunity to represent clients in a wide variety of prostitution related cases that go far beyond simple prostitution. As such, John was a natural choice to comment on the Governor Spitzer situation.

John explained to RNN that while the Governor’s conduct may have technically violated the Mann Act, it is unlikely that he will be prosecute because customers also referred to as “Johns” (no pun is intended) are usually not prosecuted under the Mann Act. John explained that often, federal investigations often focus more on the organizers and managers and the prostitutes or customers.

John also speculated that a deal would be worked out in which the Governor would be allowed to resign in exchange for an agreement that he would not be prosecuted. Elliot Spitzer has hired a large Manhattan based law firm to represent him which seems to indicate that he at least believes that he will have upcoming legal issues.

When the video from RNN becomes available we will post the link on this Blog.