Queensland Consolidated Acts

CRIMINAL CODE 1899 - SECT 229I

229I Persons found in places reasonably suspected of being used for prostitution etc.

(1) A person who, without reasonable excuse, is found in, or leaving after having been in, a place suspected on reasonable grounds of being used for the purposes of prostitution by 2 or more prostitutes commits a crime.

Penalty—

Maximum penalty—

(a) for a first offence—imprisonment for 3 years; or

(b) for a second offence—imprisonment for 5 years; or

(c) for a third or subsequent offence—imprisonment for 7 years.

(2) However, if a person who is not an adult or is a person with an impairment of the mind is, to the offender’s knowledge, in the place at the time of the offence, the offender is liable to a maximum penalty of 14 years imprisonment.

(3) In sentencing an offender who is a prostitute or client, the court may, in mitigation of sentence, have regard to evidence of an appropriate sexual health check undergone by the offender within 3 months before the offence.

(4) Subsection (1) does not apply to a person (the
"relevant person" ) if the place is a licensed brothel, unless—

(a) if the relevant person, without reasonable excuse, is found in the place—a person who is not an adult or who is a person with an impairment of the mind is, to the relevant person’s knowledge, also in the place; or

(b) if the relevant person, without reasonable excuse, is found leaving after having been in the place—a person who is not an adult or who is a person with an impairment of the mind was, to the relevant person’s knowledge, also in the place when the relevant person was in the place.