Why isn't "To catch a Predator" ...Entrapment...there are no minors involved. Is there a law broken?
Don't get me wrong I think it great thy get these CREEPS of the street. But is there really a law broken? I don't know of a law that states "if you think of breaking a law, then you broke it"
Answers:
If the cop-posing-as-a-kid went after the adults and enticed them, then it is entrapment. However, the cops are creating a persona and waiting for predators to come to them.
Personally I do have some problems with the whole concept but that's how the law is written.
Yes the law they have broken is their attempt at molestation, regardless of the lack of a "victim". They attempted to commit the crime. There is no entrapment because they contacted the "victim" and initiated the process thinking the "victim" to be a minor.
Most times the law only needs an intent to commit a crime. That is what this a other shows like it are based on.
Intent. That is the key word here. What was thier intent? Thier intention was to have sex with a very young girl. Sicko's!
Most state have very vague laws concerning the Internet. They are arrested on violations from that section of law. However, I saw a report that only about 50% of them actually get sentenced due to the law enforcement violating certain rights and procedures.
Intent to commit a crime is a crime. If you walk into a bank with the intention of robbing it, you have a gun and a mask and a note for the teller in a bag, you've committed a crime even if you haven't made it to the teller window.
My sister and I were discussing that very same topic last night. We both think it is entrapment. It would be nice to know whether these people just get the crap scared out of them by being caught in this manner, or if they really do jail time.
It's against the law to solicit sex from children, and that is clearly what these guys believe they are doing.
It's so sad the way some of them try to maintain that's not really why they are there, even when that pompous host is holding all of the transscripts right in his hand.
It would be entrapment if it could be shown that they had no natural inclination to commit the crime without the incitement and enticement of an undercover cop, but these guys have reached out on their own and brought their troubles on themselves.
They were planning on breaking the law, they went there with an intent to do so. If someone gets knocked down outside of a bank, with a gun and a note demanding money in his pockets, he will get arrested for ATTEMPTED robbery, even though he never made it into the bank. By your argument, he shouldn't be charged with anything, because he didn't actually rob the bank.
As for the Entrapment thing, it is the same way when cops bust guys in sting operations, using undercover police as hookers. There was no sex, and no actual hookers involved, but they get busted regardless.
I think, for me, it boils down to...are they "fishing", or are they "hunting"??
You put a bait out there and fish for a predator, and if he's there you'll catch him. I'm all for that. Cut off his nuts and throw him in prison. We need more of it.
But if they're hunting...maybe crossing some lines....they might be enticing guys who would otherwise never get involved in this. And that is wrong, it's setting someone up and then chopping off his head. You can get ALL of the guys you want just by fishing for them.
Bottom line is....these guys are just plain stupid. Anytime you see online a "14-year-old girl" interested in sex with you, or even chatting with you, you're being set up. How these guys can see this on TV every week and then fall for it is beyond me. They should be prosecuted for stupidity, if for nothing else.
Personally I am repulsed by this program. Why does law enforcement need to use what is essentially a contractor (Perverted Justice) to do its work? I am really repulsed by the fact that a ratings-hungry network and its ratings-hungry "journalist" Chris Hansen is publicizing it.
Law enforcement should break its contacts with both Perverted Justice and "To Catch a Predator" and do this work on its own. I have read that due to the contractor and network, some DAs have not filed charges because there have been irregularities on the part of the PV or MSNBC.
Sooner or later someone is going to screw up really badly and harm an innocent person (someone they're looking to "get" for child molestation) and then both are going to get their pants sued.
As for your question, yes, it's intent. As for punishment, I would think intent garners less than actual damage.
Intent is a key word here. When these predators scan the internet for a young girl they often find what they are looking for. In the cases of to catch a predator they contact somone who they actually believe to be underaged and with the laws that now exist in the USA contacting a minor via the internet for sexual purposes is by itself illegal. Even though the girl/boy that poses for the show is of legal age the predator believes he/she is showing up to have sexual relations with an underaged person. So the intent to have sexual relations with a minor is also there.
So intrapment would would take place if the the staff from catch a predator contacted some guy in a chatroom and offered sex to him. Basically they set the bait out there but he must make the move to take it. The key is his intent to seek the underaged person.
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