The ad for the Ally McBeal show tonight says she gets arrested for having cybersex with a 16 year old boy. She thought he was an adult man.
Could this happen in real life? That is, is it illegal to have cybersex with a minor? What if the minor mis-represents themself and says they are an adult? I thought it was perfectly legal to have cybersex with anyone, since it isn’t really sexual contact. Or do I need to be more careful in chat rooms?
About the most she could be charged with in any typical jurisdiction is “contributing to the delinquency of a minor” or the equivalent. New York’s Penal Law, for example, states
As you can see, there’s a lot of wiggle room in this definition. I suppose directing lurid sexual proposals at a child in a chat room could be “injurious to the moral welfare” of the child. An annotation to that section of the penal law indicates that in the case of People v. Rice, 271 NYS2d 307 (1966),the state’s highest court found that “using obscene language to request girls to perform an immoral act was endangering” under the statute.
As for whether the child lied about his age, that is one of the troubling aspects of crimes involving children. Most crimes involving underage children are strict liability crimes-- that is, regardless of how much the child “looks” or “sounds” or “acts” like an adult, if the child is under 17, you are guilty of the offense charged even if you though the child was older. It’s not always fair, but it reflects a policy choice by the government that children who look or act old are just as vulnerable as children who do not.
Even though there was no physical contact, Ms. McBeal’s behavior likely falls under the old chestnut, “corrupting the morals of a minor” (I’m talking general U.S. penal law - I don’t know the specifics of Massachusetts law). As I’m sure the storyline will play out tonight, Ally won’t be in the pokey for long, 'cause she didn’t know, and had no reason to suspect, that her partner was a minor.
I’m deliberately not discussing the Internet Decency Act (or whatever the true title is), 'cause I don’t know if it applies. Any help on that question?
My WAG is that they made up the situation in order to get an episode out of it.
I think a lot depends on whether (a) the two people involved go into a private chat mode or whether the cybersex is taking place in “public”, and (b) whether they arrange to meet in real life. We just had somebody arrested here who thought he was meeting a 14-year-old boy from a chat room for RL sex, when it turned out to be an FBI sting. Oopsie.
I don’t think the Communications Decency Act would apply, because I was under the impression that it was struck down in 1997 as being unconstitutional. Are you telling me they brought it back? (And yes, I do live at the bottom of a mine shaft! )
Every publicized conviction involving the internet and a minor always are “an adult arranging to meet a minor for purposes of sex”. Now just since the scenario you mention isn’t enforced or publicizd doesn’t mean it isn’t potentially indictable. I’m alot of help, huh?
I’ve always wondered how statutory rape laws were applied in cases where the girl misrepresented herself and the guy could reasonably believe she was of age. For example if he’d met her in a over-21 bar (asuming she entered w/ a fake) and had sex. I can’t believe anyone could agree this is criminal, but I have no idea how the law would read.
Its a convoluted situation for certain. One angle a rigidly defined law may unfairly punish certain offenders on a technicality, on other a vaguely defined law can be manipulated to unfairly criminalize subjective morality issues and reflect the opinions of one prosecutor or judge.
The episode hasn’t aired yet, but I believe she doesn’t get busted until she meets him in real life at a restaurant which coincidently is where the young lad’s mother is dining.
I have little doubt that great hilarity will ensue as a result, because the very thought of internet pervs fiending after our country’s youth cracks me up.
Yes, that’s what happened. What’s the difference between a child and a minor? I thought they were the same.
Anyway, Ally was charged with Statuatory Rape of a Minor. She went to court and there was a lot of hillarity. The judge ruled in Ally’s favor and said she was innocent. Then Ally kissed the 16 year old boy on the cheek.
handy wrote “Yeah, you sure can get arrested for that, but then only if you get caught”.
What would the charge be? I find rape hard to believe. Seems like contributing to the deliquency of a minor is the worst the charge could be.
Oh, I don’t know what the charge would be Cheese. Who would want to have cybersex with a 16 year old guy anyway? They don’t have much to say, do they? ‘yeah’ ‘whatever’ ‘like lets do that’ ‘yeah’
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