Bawdy-house


BAWDY-HOUSE, crim. law. A house of ill-fame, (q. v.) kept for the resort and unlawful commerce of lewd people of both sexes.
2. Such a house is a common nuisance, as it endangers the public peace by drawing together dissolute and debauched persons; and tends to corrupt both sexes by an open profession of lewdness. 1 Russ. on Cr.; 299: Bac. Ab. Nuisances, A; Hawk. B. 1, c. 74, Sec. 1-5.
3. The keeper of such a house may be indicted for the nuisance; and a married woman, because such houses are generally kept by the female sex, may be indicted with her husband for keeping such a house. 1 Salk. 383; vide Dane's Ab. Index, h. t. One who assists in establishing a bawdyhouse is guilty of a misdemeanor. 2 B. Monroe, 417.