Prosecutor Kills Himself in Texas Raid Over Child Sex

[AJackson]

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This is such a tricky issue. On the one hand, pedophilia stinks but I think the mitigating factors in these stings are hard to ignore:

1) It's entrapment, even if not carried out by authorities.
2) No actual physical contact takes place

Obviously, I'm aware that a perpatrator's intent is a major factor here, that he's essentially guilty of 'attempted pedophilia' but I can't shake the feeling that this is kind of an icky sting.

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The kids don't approach the adults, so it's not entrapment. They're just in regular teen chat rooms waiting for an adult to approach them.

I hate pedophiles as much as anyone, but I do agree that this is going a bit far. They're obviously doing something wrong chatting, but I don't think that should have someone branded a sexual predator for the rest of their lives. I also think a case can be made that they truly believed they were role playing with another adult.

[youtalkfunny]

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Offering a person the opportunity to commit a crime is NOT entrapment.

[/ QUOTE ]

This goes to the top of the list of "Things I Learned Today".

Seriously.

[mmbt0ne]

ytf,

Ditto. So what constitutes entrapment? Does the officer have to deny he has any relation to the police?

[JJNJustin]

Pedophilia is a mental sickness, not a crime. This person also suffered from depression and intense feelings of guilt that accompany it. We need to be more understanding towards those who suffer from pedophilia and less punishing and condemning.

-J

[george w]

[ QUOTE ]
Pedophilia is a mental sickness and a crime. This person also suffered from depression and intense feelings of guilt that accompany it. We need to do the best thing possible to fix this social problem



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[J.R.]

[ QUOTE ]
ytf,

Ditto. So what constitutes entrapment? Does the officer have to deny he has any relation to the police?

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ENTRAPMENT - A person is 'entrapped' when he is induced or persuaded by law enforcement officers or their agents to commit a crime that he had no previous intent to commit; and the law as a matter of policy forbids conviction in such a case.

However, there is no entrapment where a person is ready and willing to break the law and the Government agents merely provide what appears to be a favorable opportunity for the person to commit the crime. For example, it is not entrapment for a Government agent to pretend to be someone else and to offer, either directly or through an informer or other decoy, to engage in an unlawful transaction with the person. So, a person would not be a victim of entrapment if the person was ready, willing and able to commit the crime charged in the indictment whenever opportunity was afforded, and that Government officers or their agents did no more than offer an opportunity.

On the other hand, if the evidence leaves a reasonable doubt whether the person had any intent to commit the crime except for inducement or persuasion on the part of some Government officer or agent, then the person is not guilty.

In slightly different words: Even though someone may have [sold drugs], as charged by the government, if it was the result of entrapment then he is not guilty. Government agents entrapped him if three things occurred:

- First, the idea for committing the crime came from the government agents and not from the person accused of the crime.

- Second, the government agents then persuaded or talked the person into committing the crime. Simply giving him the opportunity to commit the crime is not the same as persuading him to commit the crime.

- And third, the person was not ready and willing to commit the crime before the government agents spoke with him.

On the issue of entrapment the government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was not entrapped by government agents.

link

FYI a law enforcement officer acting undercover is under no obligation to identify themselves and may in fact lie to a suspect.

[Blarg]

[ QUOTE ]
Pedophilia is a mental sickness, not a crime. This person also suffered from depression and intense feelings of guilt that accompany it. We need to be more understanding towards those who suffer from pedophilia and less punishing and condemning.

-J

[/ QUOTE ]

Less punishing? That sounds bizarre.

The suffering seems to be a lot greater on the part of the children. Even recognzing that there is mental illness involved, we're still talking about a crime that can have devastating consequences and is often tied with violence or even murder. We don't need to be any less punitive about any of that.

I do think that the line is drawn kind of arbitrarily as to age, though. Someone screwing a 17 year old doesn't seem like a perv, and historically girls that age have been fair game and considered women. Biologically, it's hard to argue that they aren't, too. But there does come a point at which you're clearly dealing with a child. There does seem to be a problem with lumping screwing a child together with screwing a young adult, and so far we've only had a fairly arbitrary and clumsy way of figuring it out.