Living on the Earnings of Prostitution

Living on the Earnings of Prostitution is an offence under Section 15 of the Summary Offences Act 1988 which carries a maximum penalty of 12 months in prison.

To establish the offence, the prosecution must prove beyond reasonable doubt that:

1. You wholly or partly lived on the earnings of the prostitution of another person, and
2. You did so knowingly

You are taken to have lived on the earnings of prostitution if:

1. You were over the age of 18 years
2. You lived with, or were habitually in the company of, a reputed prostitute, and
3. You had no visible means of support

You are not guilty of the offence if you owned, managed or were employed by a legal brothel. A brothel can be considered legal even if only one prostitute was employed there.

A further defence to the charge is that your earnings were otherwise lawfully derived.