I saw this news item and wondered how far police should go with this. It’s a sting like most stings where an illegal service/good is being offered, in this case sex with a presumably hot 15 year old girl. Predictably they found someone stupid enough to fall into the trap, and what makes it semi-news worthy is that it was a HS teacher.
In the context of this baited trap and the people being ensnared I’m wondering what the social good is in this specific sting. Is it clearing the streets of child predators? Is it clearing the streets of people stupid enough to think these kinds of ads are real? Is a very foolish man that wants to have sex with a 15 year old who is offering to sell her wares a true potential menace to society?
Is this where we need to be spending law enforcement dollars?
It doesn’t sound like this costs very much, just someone monitoring email and website, so it sounds worth it to get rid of some sexual predators. Unlike the common prostitution stings where you have to accept the word of the police decoy that there was no entrapment, in this case there’s a written record of the entire account. The only problem I can think of is catching some dumbass who assumes it’s really a woman of legal age posing as a minor, because I don’t think prostitution should be illegal.
They aren’t really looking for pedophiles per se but the bigger they make the attempted crime they better of the prosecution is.
There’s ads like this on CraigsList all the time (so I’ve heard) and the police are almost as obvious as the spambots. Anybody who gets themselves busted like this really had it coming… but might or might not be a pedophile. Might just be a lonely dude looking for something fun, and this police sting was the only human being who answered back, all other answers being spam bots.
My biggest beef is, but for the temptation and ammunition (and often finances) undercover cops provide in sting ops, there’s no way to know if that person would have done something criminal without them. Stings and honeypots are predatory in general. I wonder why those are both bee metaphors? Anyway, yeah they suck. So do lots of things about law enforcement, though.
On the other hand, how many people don’t go trolling for under-age prostitutes because they know some % are cops? I mean, obviously, for some, the temptation is clearly stronger than their fear of getting caught, but I can only imagine that for every dude willing to respond to an ad like this (which pretty much has to be searched for–this isn’t sending someone to his door with an offer), there are several, maybe dozens, more who would take the opportunity for totally risk-free young teen sex.
Someone who not only wants to, but acts on the desire to, have sex with a 15-year-old isn’t someone you want around high school kids.
Wanting to have sex with a 15-year-old doesn’t make you a pedophile. An ephebophile, maybe…
Unless I missed something, the article didn’t make it clear whether the original ad mentioned anything about age, or how he was supposed to have known “she” was 15 years old.
“Hi, I’m Chris Hansen with 20-20. I want to get a lot more of your opinions on this. No, the girl you thought would be here isn’t in the house… and No, I wouldn’t advise you to try to leave, as there are police just outside…”
If we can get a few of these people off the street before they volunteer at high schools, it’s not a bad investment for the minimal resources involved.
the problem with these stings is there is a lot more to these cases than what is being told. They are placing suggestive ads in adult sections on sites like Craigslist, and then performing a “bait and switch”. Not only that, but they will send a photo of somebody who is much more mature well into their 20’s yet say they are 14 or 15. I’ve even seen a photograph of one who said they were 13 and had a wedding ring on her finger. She was actually 26. Essentially they are telling everyone that because they say they are 14, that you have to believe them even if they send you a photo of someone who is clearly not 14. We all know people misrepresent themselves online and you don’t always believe who you might be talking to. Having said that, how is it that cops say you must believe them? They are using adult websites suckering men into their trap. They not only create the opportunity, but the idea as well.
heres a few examples of an ad from Craigslist that they posted:
Sisters Looking 4 a Hot Night-w4m-19
2 sisters seeking a man than can handle both of us. We are ready for a hot night, r u?
**Hot Fresh Latina lookin 4 1nighter -w4m **(no age given in adult section of Craigslist)
Want exactly what it says…thats all NSA & after, we forget we met. ONLY serious responses
Imho, not just in this case but in any case involving the police, i do not believe they should ever be allowed to break the law in pursuit of offenders. Any case (such as speeding to catch speeders) should go all the way up to at least circuit court, if not Supreme Court. In nearly every case, by using technology and common sense, a legal way of catching the person will suffice. In the speeding example, a camera is used in many states today instead of a chase, and using technology to coordinate a roadblock is easily accomplished.
I totally agree with you, and those type of proactive stings are nothing short of random virtue testing. Law enforcement is using sex as an unjust tool and suckering men into their trap. Florida leads the way by far in the amount of these stings being performed and there is a reason for that…it’s called free grant money! So in order to get that free money, they “cook the books” to make it look like there’s a problem when one doesn’t exist as they claim. It is absolutely pathetic, and they are actually getting away with it. How? well they use the nature of the charges, public sentiment, and the high conviction rate to justify continued funding! And then they lie to the public. Who would doubt law enforcement when they say they just caught a bunch of child predators?
No police are close to breaking the law in this case. I have no idea what you are talking about.
As for the speed cameras, I think you will find yourself in the vast minority with your support. Both with the public and law enforcement. In my opinion in places they are used it is mostly for revenue and not law enforcement.
I don’t know what Americans have against sex. You can go to Germany and I kid you not you can get your dick sucked by an incredibly hot 19 year old prostitute in a bar full of people if you want, no one gives a shit. The girls all walk around naked. Everyone knows about these clubs and no one cares about them. The owners make millions. The girls all seem happy and make a shit load of money. Seriously, these were happy hookers.
I spoke to one of them who said the reason she does it, is because in her country she’d make only 250 euro a month, whereas after a few years of whoring and she’ll buy a house outright. Not such a different income to what an unskilled worker in the USA would make, once you convert the dollar and adjust for a higher structural cost of living in the states.
The USA should just legalize prostitution and make it mainstream and then tax it. You would have women giving out $50 blow jobs in blowjob bars in no time. Then there is no underground industry. No ID. No work. No clean sexual health, no work.
Then there is zero reason for men to go to illegal prostitutes.
