An alleged pimp arrested in Van Nuys on Thursday was taken into custody after an investigation into a possible 15-year-old human trafficking victim was conducted by police. Police have given no details about the arrest, though the 15-year-old victim was rescued when the alleged pimp was taken into custody.
Pimping is covered under California Penal Code 266h PC. A person can commit the crime of pimping by:
- Knowingly receiving financial support from someone engaged in the crime of prostitution or
- Receiving or trying to receive compensation from soliciting a prostitute.
Pimping is closely related to the crime of pandering, California Penal Code 266i PC, and both crimes are frequently charged at the same time. Pandering is defined as:
- Procuring another person for the purpose of prostitution
- Persuades or encourages another person to engage in prostitution through threats, violence, promises or other means
- Finds someone a job in a brothel or house of prostitution
- Persuades or encourages another person to continue working in a brothel or other house of prostitution
- Uses fraud, artifice, duress or abuse of position to get someone to become a prostitute or enter a place where prostitution is allowed and encouraged or enter or leave California for the purpose of engaging in prostitution
- Receives, gives or agrees to receive or give money or compensation for persuading someone to become a prostitute.
Essentially, pimping is the crime of receiving money from someone engaged in prostitution, and pandering is the crime of getting someone to engage in the crime of prostitution.
Pimping and pandering are both charged as felonies in the State of California. According to the Los Angeles County Felony Bail Schedule, the bail amount for pimping a person under the age of 15 is set at $75,000. For pandering a minor, bail is set at $50,000.
If convicted on pimping and/or pandering charges, the possible penalties include: formal probation, 3 to 6 years in California state prison and/or a fine of up to $10,000. If the judge decides that the defendant derived financial gain from the crimes of pimping and/or pandering, he or she is able to impose an additional fine of up to $5,000.
