A bill that would allow prostitutes to testify against pimps without the corroboration of a third-party witness has been passed unanimously by the Nevada Assembly and is on the verge of being passed by the Senate.
The bill, AB 470, strikes a portion of Nevada law NRS 175.301, which still requires corroborating testimony in order to convict someone of "procuring or attempting to procure an abortion, or aiding or assisting therein." AB 470 removes language mandating the same requirement to convict someone for "inveigling, enticing or taking away any person for the purpose of prostitution, or aiding or assisting therein."
Prostitution is legal in all Nevada counties except Clark (where Las Vegas is located) and Washoe (Reno), and it is in those areas where the law is expected to have most of its effect – but one brothel owner expects that his business will increase once the law goes into effect.
"It will affect me, in that it will scare more pimps out of Nevada," said Dennis Hof, owner of the Moonlite Bunnyranch, in Lyons County, about 60 miles from Reno. "The reason they're doing this is that Las Vegas has now turned into a cesspool of pimping and ho'ing. You've had girls getting killed down there; there's been over 300 girls show up HIV-positive down there, and it's an incredible drain on our healthcare system and our society."
Prostitutes in legal bordellos are tested for HIV and STDs weekly.
"You know, 'What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas,' but HIV doesn't; they get it in Vegas and it moves around," Hof noted. "What they're trying to do is tighten up on these pimps, put some of them in prison, and in Nevada, interestingly enough, those are 10-year sentences. They're saying, 'It's legal here; what do we need these pimps for?'"
Hof said that state and federal agents recently mounted a full-scale attack on prostitution in Las Vegas.
"The state just said, enough is enough; get rid of these guys," Hof recounted. "The feds went in there and arrested 89 people in one day. They said to the locals, 'You know, you guys need to do this. If you can't, we're going to.'"
The Vegas crackdown was apparently part of a countrywide effort to target prostitution and escort businesses, and Hof expressed sympathy for some women he knows who were caught up in raids in the New York City area.
"They busted that big agency that all the porn stars were working for in New York; now they're coming after the girls," Hof said. "The Treasury Department has said they're going to audit every one of the girls, every porn star that appeared on there. And some big names were on there. So all these porn chicks that have been working in New York for this company, this Exotica-2000, NY Elite – they're gone, and now these girls all have trouble. I feel sorry for them, and the Bunnyranch is using its influence to help the girls that we like, that were involved in this, to stay clear of any legal problems."
