Texas statute
Tex. Penal Code § 43.05 — Compelling prostitution
Current through 89th Legislature, 2nd Called Session (2025)
Part of Chapter 43: PUBLIC INDECENCY, Texas Penal Code.
Full text of Tex. Penal Code § 43.05
Statutory text current through the 89th Legislature, 2nd Called Session (2025). This publication reproduces the official statutory text; it is not the official statutes of the State of Texas.
(a) A person commits an offense if the person knowingly: (1) causes another by force, threat, coercion, or fraud to commit prostitution; (2) causes by any means a child younger than 18 years to commit prostitution, regardless of whether the actor knows the age of the child at the time of the offense; or (3) causes by any means a disabled individual, as defined by Section 22.021 (b), to commit prostitution, regardless of whether the actor knows the individual is disabled at the time of the offense. (b) An offense under this section is a felony of the first degree. (c) If conduct constituting an offense under this section also constitutes an offense under another section of this code, the actor may be prosecuted under either section or under both sections. (d) For purposes of this section, "coercion" as defined by Section 1.07 includes: (1) destroying, concealing, confiscating, or withholding from a person, or threatening to destroy, conceal, confiscate, or withhold from a person, the person's actual or purported: (A) government records; or (B) identifying information or documents; (2) causing a person, without the person's consent, to become intoxicated, as defined by Section 49.01 , to a degree that impairs the person's ability to appraise the nature of the person's conduct that constitutes prostitution or to resist engaging in that conduct; or (3) withholding alcohol or a controlled substance to a degree that impairs the ability of a person with a chemical dependency, as defined by Section 462.001 , Health and Safety Code, to appraise the nature of the person's conduct that constitutes prostitution or to resist engaging in that conduct. (e) It is not a defense to prosecution under Subsection (a)(2) or (3) that the child or disabled individual: (1) lacks the culpable mental state to engage in the act of prostitution; or (2) did not complete the act of prostitution.
Official sources
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