Tennessee Code Annotated
Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-13-516 (2026)
Aggravated prostitution
✓ current as of May 2026
- (a) A person commits aggravated prostitution when, knowing that such person is infected with HIV, the person engages in sexual activity as a business or is an inmate in a house of prostitution or loiters in a public place for the purpose of being hired to engage in sexual activity.
- (b) For the purposes of this section, "HIV" means the human immunodeficiency virus or any other identified causative agent of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.
- (c) Nothing in this section shall be construed to require that an infection with HIV has occurred in order for a person to have committed aggravated prostitution.
- (d) Aggravated prostitution is a Class C felony.
Acts 1991, ch. 281, § 2.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 6
cases (3 in the last 5 years), 2014–2024 · leading case: State v. Dycus, 456 S.W.3d 918 (Tenn. 2014).
State v. Dycus, 456 S.W.3d 918 (Tenn. 2014). “These sexual offenses include: aggravated prostitution, see Tenn.Code Ann. § 39-13-516 (2010 & 2014); aggravated rape, see id.”
State of Tennessee v. Christopher Nicol Cox (Tenn. Crim. App. 2022). “Pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated section 39-13-516(f), the trial court merged the convictions for aggravated sexual battery and rape of a child into the conviction for continuous sexual abuse of child and sentenced Defendant only as to that count to sixty years as a Range…”
State of Tennessee v. Christopher Nicol Cox (Tenn. Crim. App. 2022). “Pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated section 39-13-516(f), the trial court merged the convictions for aggravated sexual battery and rape of a child into the conviction for continuous sexual abuse of child and sentenced Defendant only as to that count to sixty years as a Range…”
State of Tennessee v. Shanice L. Dycus (Tenn. 2015). “; see also Electroplating, 990 5 These sexual offenses include: aggravated prostitution, see Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-13-516 (2010 & 2014); aggravated rape, see id.”
State of Tennessee v. Jennifer Hodges (Tenn. Crim. App. 2017). “(ii) As used in subdivision (a)(1)(B)(i)(c), “sexual offense” means conduct that constitutes: (a) Aggravated prostitution, as described in § 39-13-516; (b) Aggravated rape, as described in § 39-13-502; -6- (c) Aggravated sexual battery, as described in § 39-13-504; (d)…”
OUTMemphis v. Lee (W.D. Tenn. 2024). “§ 39-13-516 (defining aggravated prostitution as only applying to people “infected with HIV” and categorizing the crime as a Class C felony), with Tenn.”
— Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-13-516(f) — 2 cases
State of Tennessee v. Christopher Nicol Cox (Tenn. Crim. App. 2022). “Pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated section 39-13-516(f), the trial court merged the convictions for aggravated sexual battery and rape of a child into the conviction for continuous sexual abuse of child and sentenced Defendant only as to that count to sixty years as a Range…”
State of Tennessee v. Christopher Nicol Cox (Tenn. Crim. App. 2022). “Pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated section 39-13-516(f), the trial court merged the convictions for aggravated sexual battery and rape of a child into the conviction for continuous sexual abuse of child and sentenced Defendant only as to that count to sixty years as a Range…”
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.