Have you ever been approached by Gardai after visiting an apartment?

[TonyB]

I find this thread a bit confusing. As far as I can see, from a fairly extensive search of the web, the only successful conviction of a man for paying for sexual services was in early 2019. The man in question was in his mid-sixties and it appears that he significantly contributed to his own problems by admitting to having purchased sexual services when questioned by the Guards.

There have been numerous media reports of the Guards questioning suspects or engaging in ‘days of action’, but I can’t find any evidence of actual convictions.

If anyone has any compelling evidence (and I emphasise ‘compelling evidence’) of any other convictions of men in the Republic of Ireland relating to the purchase of sexual services under the 2017 legislation, I would be very grateful if they could post the evidence on this thread.

The chances of a client being caught are minimal.
In my opinion no cause for alarm.

Even if caught, hopefully it's friendly Gardai who are primarily interested in the escorts welfare.
They don't seem all that interested in clients.
Pimps yes. So they'll want to rule you out.

If you are unlucky and you get the Gardai who are there to throw out the escort and close the apartment, then you're fucked.

I don't know where statistics on criminal prosecutions are, but I'd be curious
But just because they're not readily on the internet, I don't believe there are none

[DRBlot]

Many thanks to the Libertarian for his input, however, I’m still far from convinced by the statistics.

It was reported by the Irish Examiner in December 2021 that 67 ‘proceedings’ had been taken for the purchase of sexual services. Minister McEntee (in reply to a question from Holly Cairns TD) stated that she was unable to confirm how many convictions there had been as the Court Services don’t keep that information.

I find it difficult to believe that if there were convictions, that none of them appear to have been reported in either the local or national newspapers. There have been a good few convictions for brothel keeping and trafficking reported in the newspapers, but I can’t find any for actual purchase of sexual services.

If anyone knows of any cases that were reported, could they please post them here? It would be a great help to punters to have facts like this.

I suspect in reality, the Guards aren’t too interested in punters so long as there’s no violence involved. I’m sure also that the effort the Guards need to put in to secure a conviction far outweighs any benefits to society, the escorts or the Guards themselves.

[Airbusdriver]

The chances of a client being caught are minimal.
In my opinion no cause for alarm.

Even if caught, hopefully it's friendly Gardai who are primarily interested in the escorts welfare.
They don't seem all that interested in clients.
Pimps yes. So they'll want to rule you out.

If you are unlucky and you get the Gardai who are there to throw out the escort and close the apartment, then you're fucked.

I don't know where statistics on criminal prosecutions are, but I'd be curious
But just because they're not readily on the internet, I don't believe there are none

The first thing a Guard tells you is that you have the right to remain silent. So remain silent. The burden is on him to prove you broke the law. If you are confident start filming the guard, ask for his name, number and where he is based. Ask for the nane of their Superintendent. Tell him you have a right to film for your own safety and for any official complaint you might make.

Your visit to an Apartment is none of his business whatsoever, you could be a 'journalist', you could be anything you want, you're fine so long as the girl(s) dont say you paid for sex, which I'm sure they wouldn't do. You could wonder aloud is he also a client, is that why he is interested? Make it awkward for them!!
If you watch YouTube Auditors the cops always back down when challenged. The cops HATE being filmed. But you need to be strong and confident without being agressive or abusive.

[Palatine]

Your barrister would want to make sure you understand the difference between investigated, charged, and convicted.

"Why else would you be there". It's not up to you to prove your innocence. It's up to them to prove your guilt. No DPP is going to proceed on the basis of a file that says "he was there and sure why else would he be there".

Trust me on this one.

[AngelsFan]

The first thing a Guard tells you is that you have the right to remain silent. So remain silent. The burden is on him to prove you broke the law. If you are confident start filming the guard, ask for his name, number and where he is based. Ask for the nane of their Superintendent. Tell him you have a right to film for your own safety and for any official complaint you might make.

Your visit to an Apartment is none of his business whatsoever, you could be a 'journalist', you could be anything you want, you're fine so long as the girl(s) dont say you paid for sex, which I'm sure they wouldn't do. You could wonder aloud is he also a client, is that why he is interested? Make it awkward for them!!
If you watch YouTube Auditors the cops always back down when challenged. The cops HATE being filmed. But you need to be strong and confident without being agressive or abusive.

Firstly I realise this is conflicting advice from me and I'm not a legal expert.
But..
I don't think taking out your phone to film the guards is a very good plan in this instance. You have your unlocked phone in your hand now and I think there is some law they can use to confiscate your phone if they suspect you are in the process of, or just have committed a crime.
They can then check through messages and call log to establish you called or messaged the escort to solicit sexual services.
Of course you may have deleted these before leaving the escort's place but perhaps not.
And sometimes E-I ask for these if you wish to leave a review.
Personally I'd rather hand over a phone that they have to go to the bother of unlocking.
Fortunately I've never been approached by a guard on leaving an escort's place.
I think I would just give name and details and ask am I under arrest. If not I'll be going.
If I am I won't be saying anything without my solicitor present.

[Airbusdriver]

Firstly I realise this is conflicting advice from me and I'm not a legal expert.
But..
I don't think taking out your phone to film the guards is a very good plan in this instance. You have your unlocked phone in your hand now and I think there is some law they can use to confiscate your phone if they suspect you are in the process of, or just have committed a crime.
They can then check through messages and call log to establish you called or messaged the escort to solicit sexual services.
Of course you may have deleted these before leaving the escort's place but perhaps not.
And sometimes E-I ask for these if you wish to leave a review.
Personally I'd rather hand over a phone that they have to go to the bother of unlocking.
Fortunately I've never been approached by a guard on leaving an escort's place.
I think I would just give name and details and ask am I under arrest. If not I'll be going.
If I am I won't be saying anything without my solicitor present.

I did say you need to be confident and strong if you go this route, but it will work, the cops bluff most people but when filmed and put in the spotlight they hate it and back off. Watch the YouTube auditors and how it works for them. If they do decide to seize your phone you must give your pin no now anyway, that's a recent law. But this sort of thing appears to be a rare occurrence, I havent seen anyone here say their phone was seized. I think the cops are so stretched prostitution is way down their priority list.

[Sacherer]

I‘ve read this thread and there are some questions that are still bothering me since I‘m visiting Dublin for the first time soon. Someone wrote „there are no excuses if you leave an escort‘s place and you are caught“. Isn‘t it legal to simply buy spending time with one? I mean they can‘t proof what you actually did in the apartment, you might just talk with one for an hour. Or did I understand that wrongly?

That being said, what would you consider as more safe to avoid being questioned by a guardai - is it safer to meet an escort during the night or the daytime? In- or outcall? Thanks in advance!

[GoneShooting]

There is no guarantee in this being safer, but I myself feel safer If I do my visiting in morning to early afternoon & never go later than that. It's probably a fair assumption to say going earlier might be safer as as later afternoon into evening & night seem to be the busiest.

Also I tend to stick with shop front places, massage with happy etc and no FS on offer. Feel more safer that way and probably lower risk too.

[Larrii]

I‘ve read this thread and there are some questions that are still bothering me since I‘m visiting Dublin for the first time soon. Someone wrote „there are no excuses if you leave an escort‘s place and you are caught“. Isn‘t it legal to simply buy spending time with one? I mean they can‘t proof what you actually did in the apartment, you might just talk with one for an hour. Or did I understand that wrongly?

That being said, what would you consider as more safe to avoid being questioned by a guardai - is it safer to meet an escort during the night or the daytime? In- or outcall? Thanks in advance!

First, being stopped is a rare event, and mostly happens in the evening.

An outcall to your place is never going to be noticed, but will cost a bit more.

If you are stopped, you are not obliged to give them more than your name and address. Questions like "did I see you coming out of that door?", your answer will be that you've already given your name and address.

[TonyB]

While I believe the Gardai can prosecute if you're found in an escort's apartment or leaving one without a plausible excuse to be there other than for the obvious,

I also believe they have better things to be doing.

That's the nice thing about living in Ireland, decent people are largely left alone by the Gardai, and they do mostly focus on things that matter.
Unfortunately I also believe they're not terribly effective although not all their fault.