State v. Nations

676 S.W.2d 282 (1984)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

D owns and operates the Main Street Disco, in which police officers found a scantily clad sixteen-year-old girl 'dancing' for 'tips.' At the time of the incident, the child was sixteen years old. When the police arrived, the child was 'dancing' on stage for 'tips' with another female. The police watched her dance for some five to seven minutes before approaching D in the service area of the bar. Believing that one of the girls appeared to be 'young,' the police questioned D about the child's age. D told them that both girls were of legal age and that she had checked the girls' identification when she hired them. When the police questioned the child, she initially stated that she was eighteen but later admitted that she was only sixteen. She had no identification. The child testified D asked her for identification just prior to the police arriving, and she was merely crossing the stage to get her identification when the police took her into custody. D simply corroborated the child's testimony; i.e., she asked the child for her identification; the child replied she would 'show it to [her] in a minute'; the police then took the child into custody. D was charged with endangering the welfare of a child 'less than seventeen years old,' and convicted and fined $1,000.00. D appealed.