On-line predators ....how disturbed are you?

It's just this side of prosecuting for a thought crime.

Back when people bought their porn in magazines, the US Postal Service was the #1 manufacturer of kiddie porn. Using seized illicit materials featuring photos of people under the age of consent, porn buyers were sent unsolicited ad catalogues promising "forbidden" porn available from Europe. People would order from the catalogues (produced by the government) and find themselves being prosecuted for purchasing kiddie porn.

---

It's no different than a drug sting or a prostitution sting. I see no problem. In this country, there are intent and conspiracy crimes.

---

Chita, what would you define as "entrapment"? What was the M.O. of the undercover reporter? I saw a similar segment a few months ago on a 20/20 / Dateline-type show, but it was the "predator" who initiated the contact and directed it to more sexual territory, not the faux-kid.

---

You see no problem, at all, with stings?

---

Chita - if it was completely virtual I might agree.

But, my understanding is that these men came to people's homes in order to engage in sexual relations of some sort (if I am thinking of the same report and show).

In that instance, I think the line has been crossed. It is no longer virtual.

Under your argument, no set up or sting operation would ever be permitted, because the crime was not, for a better word, consumated.

You are right - in most instances you ask, where are the parents. Many parents and adults are behind the curve when it comes to the Internet and what is actually posted by their children. MySpace is a great example. Kids are posting pictures of themselves with way too much personal information.

If someone is plotting a murder, and they do not actually get to complete crime, you can still charge them with attempted murder, or conspiracy to commit murder. I think the same applies here. If they actually go to a house, with the understanding that they are going to have sex with a child, then to me, that is something that needs to be stopped.

MySpace was used in this report.

So what's the morality of setting up a false situation to catch somebody doing something that is touted as being "immoral."

Catching somebody who is plotting a murder and stopping them can't really be considered the same. It would be more like if a woman was being emotionally abused by her husband some undercover sting operative appeared out of nowhere and tells her he'd wack the husband for 20 bucks.

Approach enough women with that offer and eventually somebody will say yes. Ya bust her and the crime's prevented?

---

Updated On: 2/4/06 at 06:57 PM

No. I'm not suggesting we let the kids get raped. But in these cases there no kids!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm with zone on this. On every show I've seen like this it's the adult initiating the dialog. If they are stupid to make a meeting arrangement with a minor, they deserve what they get....which hopefully is jail

---

Ah, but there's the idea of kids, so it's bad enough.

Remember, under Janet Reno's Justice Department and the Clinton Administration, it became illegal to cut pictures of children in their underwear out of a clothing catalogue and collage them into "provocative" positions.

---

But they still committed a crime chita, attempting to **** a 13 year old is a crime, regardless of if the 13 year old is real or not. They had the intention, and took the action, toward ****ing a 13 year old. thus, a crime is committed. Now, i agree, there is a difference between wanting something, and doing something. There are plenty of people i would like to kill, but, that's not a crime, and it's not a crime, because i haven't taken any sort of action actually kill someone. But, if I were to someday, take action in an attempt to kill someone, i would have committed a crime.


The same thing has occured here. Had these men been content to stay at home and just masturbate and think about the 13 year old (who, yes, in fact did not exist) it would have been fine, but they didn't just home and masturbate while thinking about a 13 year old, they went to find a 13 year old, thinking they were gonna score with the 13 year old, and thats a crime.

criminals, get, arrested.

---

Updated On: 2/4/06 at 07:04 PM

They were already willing to break the law and engage in sex with a minor. The fact that the minor wasn't real in this case doesn't change that. Had there been a real 13 year old, would you still be defending them?

---