(1)Any person who, being the owner or occupier of any premises, or having, or acting or assisting in, the management or control of any premises, induces or knowingly suffers any girl of such age as is mentioned in this subsection to resort to or be in or upon such premises for the purpose of having unlawful sexual intercourse with men or with a particular man—
(a)if such girl is under the age of 13 years, shall be liable on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for life; and
(b)if such girl is of or over the age of 13 years and under the age of 16 years, shall be liable on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months.
(2)It shall be a defence to a charge under this section that the person so charged, being a man under the age of 24 years who had not previously been charged with a like offence, had reasonable cause to believe that the girl was of or over the age of 16 years.
(3)In subsection (2) above, “a like offence” means an offence under—
(a)subsection (1) above; or
(b)section 5(3) of this Act; or
(c)section 4(1) or 10(1) of the M1Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 1976 or section 5 or 6 of the M2Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885 (the enactments formerly creating the offences mentioned in paragraphs (a) and (b) above).