Oh, the irony...

[Bengaley]

I suppose you think my cousin should rot in jail as well then. Oh, you didn't know.

See, he got arrested in a similar operation when he went to see a young man in the Twin Cities (St. Paul and Minneapolis in Minnesota). Seems when he got there, there was no young man, only a police officer waiting for him.

Now... I don't know if my cousin went down there for immoral reasons. But I did get the tail end of his story when he told my siblings, and I don't believe he had anything but good intentions. He went to help a troubled youth.

Now his dreams of being a youth director are shattered. He can't even apply for a job at McDonalds because he's registered as a sex offender.

He committed no crime, and as far as I can tell, he had no intention of doing so. And he gets arrested for soliciting a minor... who does not exist.

It's entrapment, plain and simple. The only reason anyone supports it is because they think it's taking dangerous criminals off the street.

Because after all, it's just too much work to actually enforce the current laws...

No, I don't think that he should rot in jail - if he actually was going to help, not for sex.

Therein is the crux of the matter. If he was going for innocent reasons, then, well, there's an issue. If he wasn't, then there isn't.

I shouldn't really say anything without knowing the details, but I will say that something there, with what you said, smells funny.

[Narnian]

This type of sting is typical - police women posing as prostitutes, detectives selling fake drugs, etc. Solicitation itself is a crime so a crime has been committed.

Never said a crime wasn't committed. Soliciting for sex is a crime, and that is what he should be charged with.

However, he did not solicit a minor. That's my problem.

But even then there was no person who was going to have sex with him - just a cop. If you agree he was guilty of something then it is just a matter of degree.

[Maxgoof]

No, but he thought he was. Sought one out, to be more specific.

We don't know that. We *assume* that, since police normally avoid doing things which could cause the case to be tossed out for entrapment, but we don't *know* that they didn't encourage him.

I've no problem with him getting the max penalties for the crime he was planning to commit.

Should a man be sentenced to death for *thinking* about killing someone?

It's not really entrapment unless someone in the know is egging you on. And teh biggest thing about it, is that you wouldn't be caught doing a crime if it you weren't going to do it anyway.

I know someone who was drugged and sedduced by a 14-year-old. The fact that she drugged him, thus imparing his judgement didn't stop them from charging him with having sex with a minor.

If it comes out that someone on the sting operation was saying 'Hey, its cool, I know people, its never going to come out,' then I'll start worrying. Before then...

It would not surprise me at all for them to do this. Most cases of this type have been tossed out by the court for precisely the reason I give: no minor was involved. However, before that happens, you get a big splashy headline, the perps name plastered everywhere for public embarrassment, etc. etc. etc. They might do it hoping it will keep him from trying it again.

Let us also not forget the flimsy evidence they had against Michael Jackson.

Let the bastard rot in prison and be known as someone who was going to be a child molestor. Let the inmates take care of it.

Don't get me started on this one... I grow very angry with people who think that the answer to child molesters is to lock them up and throw away the key, forgetting that most child molesters were molested as children. They think that they have solved the problem, and have done nothing to prevent the victim from growing up to repeat the crime.

[Ann Vole]

I never read most of this thread but my 2 cents:

This guy is supposed to be part of a government agency that should be good at investigation of people, especially people who can place "sleepers" and other people who pose as someone they are not. Bragging that you are in such an organization is beyond stupid. Not checking up with the details of this "girl" shows great incompetance. Now being in the public relations part of any government organization makes it very important that you do not say or do the wrong things and especially to be careful to not attach a name to anything that goes public. Giving his real name and photos has got to be the most stupid thing to do and doing it with the office computer... this guy should never have been employed let alone promoted.

All this has nothing to do with the moral wrongness of the actions which are not in doubt but my point is how stupid and incompetant this individual is and by being promoted, is obviously one of the smarter among his collegues... scary thought as far as terrorist prevention is concerned.