Agreeing to Engage In Sexual Conduct With An Undercover Police Officer Cases

In People v. A.S., the court dismissed as facially insufficient an accusatory instrument which utilized the standard pre-printed form to allege that the defendant agreed to engage in masturbation with the undercover officer in exchange for $ 60. The court found that the information lacked "... the barest indication, circumstantial or otherwise, of any utterance or slightest gesture by defendant to show that she either offered or accepted the alleged terms." 179 Misc. 2d at 572. Drawing a comparison between prostitution and other offenses involving an agreement, the court reasoned that "... if proof of this offense prostitution is similar to the proof of other offenses involving an agreement, that proof would require evidence of an affirmative act in furtherance of the agreement." Id. at 571. People v. C.M.K. specifically rejected the holding in A.S. and found that an information alleging that the defendant agreed to engage in sexual intercourse with an undercover officer in exchange for $ 180 was facially sufficient. In reaching its decision, C.M.K. cited language found in a Court of Appeals decision, People v. Allen, 92 N.Y.2d 378, 681 N.Y.S.2d 216, 703 N.E.2d 1229 (1998).