Me. Rev. Stat. » Title 17-A
Maine Revised Statutes

Me. Rev. Stat. tit. 17-A, § 855 (2026)

Commercial sexual exploitation of minor or person with mental disability

✓ current as of May 2026
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1.  A person is guilty of commercial sexual exploitation of a minor if:  
A. The person, in return for an act of prostitution, gives, offers to give or agrees to give a pecuniary benefit either to the person being prostituted or to a 3rd person and the person being prostituted has not in fact attained 18 years of age or the person knows or believes that the person being prostituted has not attained 18 years of age. Violation of this paragraph is a Class C crime.   [RR 2023, c. 1, Pt. A, §6 (COR).]
B. [PL 2021, c. 447, §3 (RP).]
[RR 2023, c. 1, Pt. A, §6 (COR).]
2. 
[PL 2005, c. 444, §1 (RP).]
3.  A person is guilty of commercial sexual exploitation of a person with a mental disability if:  
A. The person, in return for an act of prostitution, gives, offers to give or agrees to give a pecuniary benefit either to the person being prostituted or to a 3rd person and the person being prostituted suffers from a mental disability that is reasonably apparent or known to the actor and that in fact renders the person with a mental disability substantially incapable of appraising the nature of the conduct or conduct involved. Violation of this paragraph is a Class C crime.   [PL 2023, c. 316, §10 (AMD).]
[PL 2023, c. 316, §10 (AMD).]
SECTION HISTORY
PL 1981, c. 245, §2 (NEW). PL 2005, c. 444, §1 (RPR). PL 2013, c. 407, §5 (AMD). PL 2021, c. 447, §§2, 3 (AMD). PL 2023, c. 316, §10 (AMD). RR 2023, c. 1, Pt. A, §6 (COR).
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Notes of Decisions
Cited in 2 cases, 1988–1994 · leading case: Cox v. Maine Mar. Academy, 122 F.R.D. 115 (D. Me. 1988).
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Cox v. Maine Mar. Academy, 122 F.R.D. 115 (D. Me. 1988). “§ 852, 853; and Patronizing Prostitution of a Minor, 17-A M.R.S.A. § 855. . These acts of sexual abuse included, but not by way of limitation, performing sexual intercourse and oral sex with Plaintiff, prostituting her, giving and accepting consideration for her sexual favors,…”
State v. Lamson, 640 A.2d 1076 (Me. 1994). “§ 353 (1983) (Class D), and endangering the welfare of an incompetent person, 17-A M.R.S.A. § 855 (1983) (Class D). We agree with Lamson that the evidence adduced at trial was insufficient to sustain the conviction for endangering the welfare of an incompetent person.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.