Solicitation

At both common law and in the state of Wisconsin, solicitation is a crime. The person who is convicted for soliciting another person to perform a crime is vicariously liable for the completed crime if the person solicited commits the crime. A person who is convicted of soliciting a minor for sexual purposes is guilty of solicitation as a separate crime.

solicitation of a minor for sex

Recently, the crime of solicitation has been added to the numerous charges brought against people for sex crimes. The act of soliciting a minor does not form a conspiracy as noted below, nor involve another party who is vicariously liable for the crime, as noted above. Perhaps surprisingly, to be charged with the crime of soliciting a minor for sex, a minor child need not even be involved. Instead, the act of solicitation of a minor for sex occurs when a person over the age of 18 years agrees to meet some other person for sexual reasons. The other person need not be a minor, and in fact, it is often a police officer or other law enforcement agent acting as a minor.

What does it mean to a client who is charged with a sex crime to also be charged with solicitation? There is an element to be proven in some sexual offenses that requires the prosecution to prove that the defendant was predisposed to committing a sex crime. At trial, if the prosecution can prove that the defendant "knowingly" solicited a minor for sexual purposes, then it follows that the defendant was predisposed to committing a sex offense.

solicitation in conspiracy crime

If a person solicits another to commit a crime, a conspiracy is formed by the agreement between two or more people to bring about a crime.

solicitation merges with resulting crime

Solicitation is a merging crime, which means, in short, it merges into the completed crime when the crime is completed. Conversely conspiracy is not a merging crime; it is charged as a separate crime. An exception to the merger of solicitation into the completed crime is seen in the numerous solicitation charges brought against people busted in cybersex, chat room and other Internet related sex crimes.

Contact Van Wagner & Wood