West Virginia § 61-8-8 - 61-8-8. Receiving support from prostitution; pimping; penalty; prostitute may testify.

§ 61-8-8. 61-8-8. Receiving support from prostitution; pimping; penalty; prostitute may testify.

Any person who, knowing another person to be a prostitute, shall live or derive support or maintenance, in whole or in part, from the earnings or proceeds of the prostitution of such prostitute, or from money loaned or advanced to or charged against such prostitution by any keeper or manager or inmate of a house or other place where prostitution is practiced or allowed, or shall tout or receive compensation for touting for such prostitution, shall be guilty of pimping, and, upon the first conviction for such offense, shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail for a period of not less than six months nor more than one year, and by a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $500; and, upon a conviction for any subsequent offense hereunder, shall be punished by imprisonment in the penitentiary for a period of not less than one nor more than three years: Provided, That where the prostitute referred to in this section is a minor, any person violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction shall be confined in the penitentiary not less than two years or fined not more than $5,000, or both. A prostitute shall be a competent witness in any prosecution hereunder to testify for or against the accused as to any transaction or conversation with the accused, or by the accused with another person or persons in the presence of the prostitute, even if the prostitute may have married the accused before or after the violation of any of the provisions of this section, whether called as a witness during the existence of the marriage or after its dissolution.