delivered the opinion of the Court.
This appeal is from a conviction upon the first, second, third, fourth and fifth counts of an indictment, in a trial before the court without a jury. The appellant was sentenced to one year and a fine of $500 on each of the first, third,
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fourth and fifth counts, and thirty days on the second count, all to run concurrently. The first and second counts were for keeping a bawdyhouse, and keeping a disorderly house, respectively. Both of these are common law offenses, although the penalty for the second is fixed by Code (1957), Art. 27, sec. 125.
Lutz v. State,
The appellant contends that there was no proof of scienter on the part of the accused, and that this is a prerequisite. The State contends that at common law no scienter was necessary, since the crime was in the nature of a common nuisance or “public welfare” offense, citing
Herzinger v. State,
The appellant had worked in the Piccadilly night club for 27 years, and had been the proprietor for three years. He sat on an elevated platform, where he played the drums, in a three piece orchestra, with a good view of the whole room. He employed some twenty to twenty-five women, some of whom were strip tease entertainers, some of whom were hostesses who sat and drank with male patrons, some were waitresses. There was testimony from four employees that they had performed, or seen others perform, lewd acts in the darkened corners of the room, in which they remained each night from 8 P.M. to 2 A.M. The hostesses and waitresses were paid only two dollars per night. As Miss Sanders testified, “they wouldn’t get any money on drinks but the guys would give them money for playing around”. The “playing around” was with the male sex organs. Miss Forster testified Kolker instructed them “to sit around and if a customer don’t *159 want you, you don’t bother him. If he wants you, well then you can associate with him but for goodness sake don’t shut down the place. Out of that you have to take your own.” Miss Sanders testified she complained to the barmaid about an act of oral perversion she saw performed by another girl, but was told to mind her own business.
Judge Prendergast, as he stated in his written opinion, simply did not believe Kolker’s testimony that he did not know what was taking place as a nightly occurrence in an atmosphere calculated to excite sexual passions in the clientele. We cannot find that he was clearly wrong. As Judge Markell said in
Hayette v. State,
The appellant contends that even if there were enough evidence to charge him with knowledge of what went on, he cannot be convicted on the uncorroborated testimony of accomplices. The State contends that the four employees who testified for the State were not accomplices, since they could not have been charged with the same offense as the proprietor. Here again, we need not answer the question, because we think there was corroboration on enough material points. Cf.
Gray v. State,
Judgments affirmed, with costs.