AUGUSTA, Maine — Gov. Janet Mills signed a bill into law Monday that partially decriminalizes prostitution in Maine.

The bill, LD 1435, as amended, eliminates the crime of engaging in prostitution and raises the solicitation of a child for commercial sexual exploitation from a Class D crime to a Class C crime.

The bill also makes language changes in state law to rename the crime of “patronizing prostitution of a minor or a person with a mental disability” to “commercial sexual exploitation of a minor or a person with a mental disability” and renames the crime of “solicitation of a child to engage in prostitution” to “solicitation of a child for commercial sexual exploitation.”