Prosecutor Kills Himself in Texas Raid Over Child Sex

[dinopoker]

From the New York Times...

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TERRELL, Tex., Nov. 6 — A prosecutor in this North Texas town killed himself Sunday as the police tried to arrest him on charges of soliciting sex over the Internet from a person he thought was a 13-year-old boy.

The prosecutor, Louis Conradt Jr., 56, had been caught in a sting operation set up by Dateline NBC, the television news magazine, and an Internet watchdog group called Perverted Justice. An NBC camera crew was outside the house to film the scene when the fatal shot was fired.

Mr. Conradt had refused to open the door when police officers arrived at his house, where he lived alone, said Sgt. Snow Robertson of the Police Department in Murphy, a nearby town where officers said Mr. Conradt intended to meet the boy he thought he had communicated with.

Officers eventually forced their way into the house, only to find that Mr. Conradt had shot himself in the head with a small-caliber semi-automatic handgun, Sergeant Robertson said. Mr. Conradt died later at Parkland Hospital in Dallas.

Police officers from Murphy had gone to the house with a tactical team and two officers from Terrell to serve a warrant for Mr. Conradt’s arrest. One of the officers from Terrell knew Mr. Conradt from his work as a prosecutor, Sergeant Robertson said.

Mr. Conradt had been a district attorney in Kaufman County and was the chief felony assistant district attorney in Rockwall County at the time of his death.

The police planned to search his computer and his house, Sergeant Robertson said.

The sergeant’s department had been working with Perverted Justice and NBC News in a sting operation singling out people who solicit sex from children.

Allison Gollust, an NBC News spokeswoman, said the crew for Dateline NBC’s “To Catch a Predator” series was taping as the police approached the house. But Ms. Gollust added that no one from Dateline had had contact with Mr. Conradt and that there was nothing to suggest that he had seen the crew before he turned the gun on himself.

“There’s absolutely no evidence that would suggest that he was aware of us,” Ms. Gollust said. “We don’t anticipate making a change to our reporting.”

Xavier Von Erck, director of operations with Perverted Justice, said Mr. Conradt had made contact in an AOL chat room with a decoy from Perverted Justice who was posing as a 13-year-old boy. Mr. Von Erck would not disclose the details of the chat, but he said, “It was sexual in nature.”

Unlike some suspects in pedophile stings that appear on “Dateline NBC,” Mr. Conradt had not actually met the person he thought was the teenager, but Sergeant Robertson said he planned to do so. Perverted Justice staff members found profiles from Mr. Conradt on AOL, Yahoo and MySpace.com, Mr. Von Erck said. He also said that he thought Mr. Conradt had tried to erase at least one online profile, on MySpace.com, a popular online social networking community used mainly by teenagers, in the moments before he shot himself.

Sergeant Robertson said the police in his town of 3,100 had apprehended 22 other people in stings since last Thursday, mostly from the Dallas-Fort Worth area, with the help of Perverted Justice. He said more would be arrested in the coming days.

“We’ll continue to work with them right now,” Sergeant Robertson said.

Perverted Justice stings have led to the arrests of 260 people nationwide this year, Mr. Von Erck said.

Several residents in this town of 14,000 about 30 miles east of Dallas said they were shocked to hear the accusations of pedophilia against Mr. Conradt, who had served two terms as district attorney.

Kirby Webb, an investment advisor from Terrell, but he applauded law enforcement’s effort to catch online child predators in the town.

“This is a good family town,” Mr. Webb said. “We want to preserve that image.”

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[esad]

Well, it was just a matter of time before this was going to happen. Not sure what NBC was thinking, they had to see this coming. Expect big lawsuits directed at NBC over this. At least they got lucky and the first shots weren't fired at them.

[KilgoreTrout]

My initial reaction was "good, one less pedophile."

Then I thought about the pedophile's family suing NBC for defamation of character, etc., and I thought, "good for the lawyers."

Then I thought about how any flap over this will increase NBC's ratings and how the execs will spin this to their advantage, ignoring that the network played at least some role in this moron's death. Sort of fits with my first reaction but NBC does deserve some blame. :Meh.

Maybe we should give all pedophiles a hand gun, one round, and have the cops knock on their door.

[bwana devil]

i found odd that the guy didnt actually go to the sting house and the cops came to him. since this episode i found that apparently in texas just chatting online in this manner is considered a crime. while sleezy, it doesnt seem like it should be criminal.

in other datelines, they emphasize how intent is carried out once the person shows up at the house and it becomes a felony at that point. that seems right to me. i dont see how you can/should be charged for a sex offense for never leaving the solidarity of your house.

ive only heard a few details they had on the news here but w/out the tv show, there would not have been a sting, no pressure to go arrest him at house.

bwana

[traz]

funny, we just had a thread discussing this recently.

OOT is too smart

[Colonel Kataffy]

[ QUOTE ]
i found odd that the guy didnt actually go to the sting house and the cops came to him. since this episode i found that apparently in texas just chatting online in this manner is considered a crime. while sleezy, it doesnt seem like it should be criminal.

in other datelines, they emphasize how intent is carried out once the person shows up at the house and it becomes a felony at that point. that seems right to me. i dont see how you can/should be charged for a sex offense for never leaving the solidarity of your house.

ive only heard a few details they had on the news here but w/out the tv show, there would not have been a sting, no pressure to go arrest him at house.

bwana

[/ QUOTE ]

Because the crime is based on an intention and not an act against a real victim, it seems as though any child molester could protect themself legally from dateline by simply typing the words "I know you are REALLY an adult and we are role playing" at some point in the conversation. That way if they show up and its really a kid, they get what they wanted and if they show up and its dateline, they're covered legally.

Also, i don't really see a lawsuit taking place. Maybe a suit being filed, but I don't see how it gets to trial.

[scotnt73]

i know on one of dallas morning radio shows tons of people were calling in from one of the sting house neighborhoods in dallas and were very angry.

they were upset because they lived in a good area without a problem and were pissed off that they werent warned to keep there kids away from that house. not only were they worried about the pedophiles being lured "into" their nice neighborhood but also there was at least one police chase from it that could have hurt a neighborhood kid.

they said the city was working with dateline and when they called to report suspicious activity at the sting house were told it was an investigation and to stay out of it.

tons of people were pissed at the local police chief who did this without the city officials being told(or so they were saying). the chief is really getting raked over the coals for it.

i never thought of the sting house neighborhoods before. i remember thinking it would be cool if dateline came to dallas but now hearing this i know id be very pissed if they set up shop accross the streat from me without any warning so i could protect my family.

[bwana devil]

[ QUOTE ]
Because the crime is based on an intention and not an act against a real victim, it seems as though any child molester could protect themself legally from dateline by simply typing the words "I know you are REALLY an adult and we are role playing" at some point in the conversation. That way if they show up and its really a kid, they get what they wanted and if they show up and its dateline, they're covered legally.


[/ QUOTE ]

typing something online in a chat room doesnt equate to intent for me. the guy never left his house and failed to go to the sting house. that shows a lack of intent. seems like when someone shows up for a meeting (whether real or a sting) that actually demonstrates intent.

think of all the stupid things we've read on 2+2. id hate to imagine people are liable for these things as if they actually acted upon everything that's been typed.

id be interested in hearing from some lawyers from various states so i dont have to talk out my arse about this.

[dinopoker]

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.

[Colonel Kataffy]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Because the crime is based on an intention and not an act against a real victim, it seems as though any child molester could protect themself legally from dateline by simply typing the words "I know you are REALLY an adult and we are role playing" at some point in the conversation. That way if they show up and its really a kid, they get what they wanted and if they show up and its dateline, they're covered legally.


[/ QUOTE ]

typing something online in a chat room doesnt equate to intent for me. the guy never left his house and failed to go to the sting house. that shows a lack of intent. seems like when someone shows up for a meeting (whether real or a sting) that actually demonstrates intent.

think of all the stupid things we've read on 2+2. id hate to imagine people are liable for writing these things as if they actually acted upon everything that's been typed.

id be interested in hearing from some lawyers from various states so i dont have to talk out my arse about this.

[/ QUOTE ]

The frist should die post is ok. However, if you use the forum to actaully solicit someone to do it and contract for it to occur, then you should be worried.