# How can some people go to jail for 2+ years for being on To Catch A Predator? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 7, 2011, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-some-people-go-to-jail-for-2-years-for-being-on-to-catch-a-predator/598862 "2011-10-07T03:24:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 25
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-some-people-go-to-jail-for-2-years-for-being-on-to-catch-a-predator/598862/483 "2011-10-14T21:21:22Z")
> [@ModernPrimate](#): > > Yes, but the persuasion means entrapment. . Once again, you show that you do not understand what entrapment means. See this: \*\*Quote:\*\*The act of government agents or officials that induces a person to commit a crime _he or she is not previously disposed to commit_. \*\*Quote:\*\*The rationale underlying the defense is to deter law enforcement officers from engaging in reprehensible conduct by inducing persons not disposed to commit crimes to engage in criminal activity. In their efforts to obtain evidence and combat crime, however, officers are permitted to use some deception. For example, an officer may pretend to be a drug addict in order to apprehend a person suspected of selling drugs. On the other hand, an officer cannot use chicanery or Fraud to lure a person to commit a crime the person is not previously willing to commit. **Generally, the defense is not available if the officer merely created an opportunity for the commission of the crime by a person already planning or willing to commit it.** \*\*Bricker \*\*has stated that this accurately reflects the laws in the U.S. So, this not entrapment because these people’s planning and willingness to commit this crime is _literally spelled out in their transcripts_. Their willingness is also demonstrated by the fact that went out of their way to show up at house for a sexual encounter with a person they have every reason to believe is a minor. ---
**Author:** ![ModernPrimate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85e7bf/32.png) [@ModernPrimate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ModernPrimate)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-some-people-go-to-jail-for-2-years-for-being-on-to-catch-a-predator/598862/484 "2011-10-14T21:21:36Z")
> [@Troppus](#): > > Low hanging fruit. Because Chris Hanson reads verbatim the juiciest sections of chat allowed to broadcast, and the predators confirm the words and nude photos belong to them. errr… two problems there. 1. If they were going to edit it at all, they would do so before they sent it to anyone. I’m not talking about a mass conspiracy, one person could do it, most likely the decoy him/herself. 2. CH isn’t going to read out sexually alluring stuff the decoy reads out anyway. His intention isn’t to make the show look bad. ---
**Author:** ![Troppus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a587f6/32.png) [@Troppus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troppus)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-some-people-go-to-jail-for-2-years-for-being-on-to-catch-a-predator/598862/485 "2011-10-14T21:23:38Z")
> [@ModernPrimate](#): > > errr… two problems there. > > 1. If they were going to edit it at all, they would do so before they sent it to anyone. I’m not talking about a mass conspiracy, one person could do it, most likely the decoy him/herself. > 2. CH isn’t going to read out sexually alluring stuff the decoy reads out anyway. His intention isn’t to make the show look bad. Please see post #480. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-some-people-go-to-jail-for-2-years-for-being-on-to-catch-a-predator/598862/486 "2011-10-14T21:24:54Z")
> [@ModernPrimate](#): > > I didn’t make assertions about whether or not TCAP could be carried out in the UK. I made assertions about how so many stings allowed in the US wouldn’t be allowed in UK or most of the world. > > You’d need a lot more evidence to put somone away in the UK for anything like that. **In the UK the government doesn’t cave to the populist opinion like they do in the US…** typically they say that what goes on in the UK would never be tolerate in the US. > > Well I tried looking and all I could find was this: [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2048689/Labour-councillor-campaigned-Harriet-Harman-admits-grooming-15-year-old-girl-blackmailer.html](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2048689/Labour-councillor-campaigned-Harriet-Harman-admits-grooming-15-year-old-girl-blackmailer.html) Unfortunately he’s not sentenced yet, I doubt it’ll be for 6+ years. > > Note however that he would come across as a particularly nasty case in TCAP. Hahahaha! We banned specific breeds of dog just because of media hysteria! There were lots of reasons to ban guns, but it was media hysteria over a terrible shooting that lead to it. We have a direct equivalent to Megan’s Law due to public pressure. Tony Blair made a Commons statement about how a _TV character_ should be freed! Note to everyone else: the UK isn’t soft on paedophiles. Paedophilia is not an example of ‘what goes on in the UK would never be tolerate in the US.’ ---
**Author:** ![ModernPrimate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85e7bf/32.png) [@ModernPrimate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ModernPrimate)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-some-people-go-to-jail-for-2-years-for-being-on-to-catch-a-predator/598862/487 "2011-10-14T21:25:39Z")
> [@Troppus](#): > > Ha. How about the transcripts of the chats, and the admission of the accused caught on video and witnessed by thousands? Is that enough concrete evidence for ya? You know both prosecution and defense can subpeona the predator’s computer for the exact chat log. Any defendent who claimed entrapment would happily provide his chat log for perusal by the court, and if anything was falsified it would be grounds for dismissal of the case. It depends on if yahoo chat histories are encrypted and it’s almost impossible to break the encryption. If they’re not encrypted (or the encryption is easily broken) then it would be exceptionally hard for the predator to prove that he didn’t just write in some stuff afterwards. Police do not obtain the perpetrator’s computer immediately after the arrest. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-some-people-go-to-jail-for-2-years-for-being-on-to-catch-a-predator/598862/488 "2011-10-14T21:30:52Z")
> [@ModernPrimate](#): > > errr… two problems there. > > 1. If they were going to edit it at all, they would do so before they sent it to anyone. I’m not talking about a mass conspiracy, one person could do it, most likely the decoy him/herself. You’ve been asked repeatedly for something other than your cynical hunches that this is what TCAP or PJ or doing. Do you have anything? A successfull defence case? CH asks the suspect directly (showing him the chat logs) if he actually said “x”, and all of the suspects admit to the language in the logs. Does this not hold any weight with you? > [@](#): > > 1. CH isn’t going to read out sexually alluring stuff the decoy reads out anyway. His intention isn’t to make the show look bad. Even if an actual thirteen year old girl sent me photos of her genitals, and begged me to come over to lick it, it does NOT mean I can legally do so. Period. I have to be the adult, show some adult restraint and judgement. What’s sad is that reality TV now includes watching men destroy their own lives for realz, but that’s another thread. (I assume CH thinks he’s alerting parents to the real potential for danger that teens online might inadvertantly stumble into.) ---
**Author:** ![Troppus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a587f6/32.png) [@Troppus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troppus)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-some-people-go-to-jail-for-2-years-for-being-on-to-catch-a-predator/598862/489 "2011-10-14T21:31:50Z")
> [@ModernPrimate](#): > > It depends on if yahoo chat histories are encrypted. If they’re not encrypted then it would be exceptionally hard for the predator to prove that he didn’t just write in some stuff afterwards. Police do not obtain the perpetrator’s computer immediately after the arrest. Wow. Devolving into conspiracy theories now. Not only does a computer note the time and IP address of information is transmitted/saved Yahoo keeps a record of chats for 45-60 days. [(Here is your cite)](http://cryptome.org/isp-spy/yahoo-spy.pdf) So if the defendent’s computer is introduced as evidence, and the content matches TCAP’s \*and \*Yahoo’s, annnd the defendent admits typing the words… will that satisfy _your_ requirement for evidence? For the record, a defendent claiming entrapment and evidence tampering would absolutely insist that his defense includes records from his own computer. ---
**Author:** ![Strassia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e8c25b/32.png) [@Strassia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strassia)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-some-people-go-to-jail-for-2-years-for-being-on-to-catch-a-predator/598862/490 "2011-10-14T21:33:25Z")
> [@ModernPrimate](#): > > \*\*False. \*\* > > You see this is what I mean by people making things up to suit themselves. That is amusing considering how many assertions you have made that have turned out not to be true because you did not know what you were talking about. > [@](#): > > The decoys had yahoo profiles and pictures on them, (with really sexy pictures if the guys’ descriptions are any way accurate). A decoy was also shown on webcam on the tv show on multiple occasions, who knows how many of these girls were on webcam and what they said (considering they wouldn’t be restricted by the rules and having to show the chat later). On a related point, a lot of them had names not too far from “candyass4u”. > > See what I mean by talking about things you don’t know about? So having a picture on a social media site means they are on display? And when do the decoys get on the webcam, before our after the perps have asked for sex? Is she begging for sex in the web cam? Is she naked? Is the fact that she visible enough to be a temptation? > [@](#): > > And btw, who is checking the perverted-justice machines and what system do they have to make sure they aren’t edited afterwards? Let me guess, all they do is send on the chats to each other. At the very least that is ridiculously unprofessional for supposed police evidence. If I were caught, I would deny everything and say they edited the chats, and it would have to be thrown out for lack of evidence. > > How do you know that they don’t edit the chats, because they say so? Even if 99% of the time they’re honest, many people find it acceptable to be dishonest “just this once”, especially if it’s “for a good cause, so this bastard creep doesn’t get away, I don’t care if I’m breaking protocol”, similar to the feelings many people here have espoused. If you read the extended exchange, in this very thread between **Bricker** and **IamError403** , you will see why that probably won’t work. ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-some-people-go-to-jail-for-2-years-for-being-on-to-catch-a-predator/598862/491 "2011-10-14T21:42:31Z")
For the sake of the truth (and since wiki is not actually a valid source, here are some newspaper reports from the countries listed above detailing sting operations. In [The Netherlands](http://www.bicycle.net/2011/dutch-police-bait-bicycle-thieves) the police left out bait bicycles with GPS units to tracks thieves. In [Sweden](http://www.thelocal.se/19314/20090507/) the police set up a blackmail operation without apparently telling either party. _Incidentally, I have discovered that if you google a country along with “sting” and “police” you get a lot of concert information. I wonder why?_ ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-some-people-go-to-jail-for-2-years-for-being-on-to-catch-a-predator/598862/492 "2011-10-14T21:44:55Z")
> [@ModernPrimate](#): > > And btw, who is checking the perverted-justice machines and what system do they have to make sure they aren’t edited afterwards? Let me guess, all they do is send on the chats to each other. At the very least that is ridiculously unprofessional for supposed police evidence. If I were caught, I would deny everything and say they edited the chats, and it would have to be thrown out for lack of evidence. No it wouldn’t! It’s been explained to you, over and over again, by a US Attorney that this is not the way it works. It’s been explained how they know the chats aren’t edited, and it’s been explained to you why and how evidence is thrown out. You are just flat wrong here! You continually make assertions that turn out to completely false, and even when this is shown to you repeatedly, you just continue on. You refuse to provide any sort of citations or proof for the things you claim. What is it going to take to make you realize that you don’t really understand what is going on in these cases, and that your outrage is unjustified? ---
**Author:** ![Troppus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a587f6/32.png) [@Troppus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troppus)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-some-people-go-to-jail-for-2-years-for-being-on-to-catch-a-predator/598862/493 "2011-10-14T21:58:42Z")
> [@miss\_elizabeth](#): > > No it wouldn’t! It’s been explained to you, over and over again, by a US Attorney that this is not the way it works. It’s been explained how they know the chats aren’t edited, and it’s been explained to you why and how evidence is thrown out. You are just flat wrong here! It’s interesting, too, that **ModernPrimate** assumes that NBC/Dateline/PV are just rogue activists hellbent on pushing puritanical views on the entire viewing audience which apparently encompasses a sizable chunk of the globe. NBC/Dateline/PV and the local police working with same are loaded with fact-checkers and lawyers who exist solely to ensure that each entity is following legal procedure and also making every effort to ensure the law is being followed so that NBC/Dateline/PV and local police cannot be sued by the persons profiled on the show. You don’t need to take our word that each and every step of a process which takes place on the internet and on film is reliable, testable, provable evidence. You can also bet what you have seen on TCAP has been cleared by legal before it airs. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-some-people-go-to-jail-for-2-years-for-being-on-to-catch-a-predator/598862/494 "2011-10-14T22:06:38Z")
> [@Troppus](#): > > Gotcha. > > Since this discussion ran off the rails pages ago anyway, does anyone else think the idea that there is a sea of eager 13 year old girls just waiting for a balding, paunchy, socially awkward and creepy 30+ year old man to come over and sex them up is hilarious? I mean, sure some young teens are physically developing and well on their way to sexual maturity but their target audience is teenaged boys, not creepy old men. Some of the older, profoundly unappealing men who appeared at a cute teens door on TCAP must be the most misguided, deluded creeps on the net. > > Speaking for myself, I was a precocious kid who was thoroughly disgusted by leering teachers and entertained zero fantasies about having someone’s dad heave his nervous, hairy, sweaty body on top of me. My friends and I laughed at older men who came onto us. Most predators who entertain fantasies about educating a virgin are seriously barking up the wrong tree. And if there are legitimate young teens talking dirty to random strangers on the internet, compare it to prank phone calls of previous generations. It’s far more likely to be a joke than an actual proposition. While I’m sure you’re right about the vast majority of teens, there remains a number of them that are susceptible to being lured from a chat room to a meeting – because it happens in real life. I posted several examples earlier in the thread. [Here](http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/crime&id=7405442): > [@](#): > > WILMINGTON - April 25, 2010 (WPVI) – New Castle County Police have arrested 27-year-old Brian Jones in the rape of a 12-year-old girl. > > Police say Jones met the girl on on a dating website called “Flurv.” > > Jones works in the IT department of the Delaware Division of Family Services. > > According to police, the 12-year-old victim had met Jones on the website approximately 4 to 5 weeks ago. The two began an online relationship that led to them meeting in person two weeks ago at her grandmother’s home in Newport Heights. During this meeting, Jones kissed the victim before leaving the home. The two then continued chatting online until they agreed to meet on Friday evening. > > The victim, who was staying over at her grandmother’s home in Newport Heights, allowed Jones to enter the home just before midnight. The two eventually went to a bedroom where they were engaged in sex until the grandmother overheard noises coming from inside the room. The grandmother walked into the room and found the adult male subject inside without clothing on. He quickly got dressed and ran out of the home. > > The next day, the victim’s mother called 911 after learning of the encounter. Based on information gleaned from the investigation, detectives determined the suspect in this case was Brian Jones. > > Jones was arrested yesterday afternoon and charged with one count of rape in the third degree. He has been arraigned and committed to the Howard Young Prison after failing to post $20,000 secured bail. [And this](http://www.examiner.net/news/law/x57950683/Independence-man-indicted-in-rape-of-girl-13): > [@](#): > > The case against Shawn Patrick Murphy, 45, is an example of what the Independence Police Department’s Special Victim’s Unit investigates: An older man who allegedly used the Internet to lure a young girl into meeting him for sex. > > A Jackson County Grand Jury Wednesday indicted Murphy on 15 felony charges. He was charged with two counts of first-degree statutory rape, three counts of first-degree statutory sodomy, two counts of second-degree statutory rape, four counts of second-degree statutory sodomy and two counts of second-degree child molestation. > > He is being held at the Jackson County Detention Center on $250,000 cash only bond. > > The supposed crimes happened between January 2009 and early March when the girl was 13 years old and later turned 14. > > Detectives with the department’s Special Victims Unit investigated the case. > > Detectives frequently make cases against men in their 40s and 50s who engage in sexual activity with girls typically between 12 to 16 years old who they meet via chat rooms or social networking, according to the unit’s supervisor, Capt. Ken Bergman. > . > . > . > In Murphy’s case, he allegedly met the girl online. Court records showed the girl communicated with Murphy through a Facebook and Yahoo! Mail account. Later, they would communicate via text messaging. The girl told police Murphy he wanted to marry her and start a family with her when she turned 17. Want more? ---
**Author:** ![Troppus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a587f6/32.png) [@Troppus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troppus)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-some-people-go-to-jail-for-2-years-for-being-on-to-catch-a-predator/598862/495 "2011-10-14T22:18:52Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > While I’m sure you’re right about the vast majority of teens, there remains a number of them that are susceptible to being lured from a chat room to a meeting – because it happens in real life. > > I posted several examples earlier in the thread. > > [Here](http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/crime&id=7405442): > > [And this](http://www.examiner.net/news/law/x57950683/Independence-man-indicted-in-rape-of-girl-13): > > The girl told police Murphy he wanted to marry her and start a family with her when she turned 17. > > Want more? Good heavens, no. Speaking for myself, I’ve seen enough predatory behavior in my career and in local media to disturb my dreams for the rest of my life, and this discussion alone has tweaked my radar more than I can stand. It’s a given that neglected and abused teens are susceptible to further abuse, and also that predators might have a knack for charm beyond their general appearance. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-some-people-go-to-jail-for-2-years-for-being-on-to-catch-a-predator/598862/496 "2011-10-14T22:26:15Z")
ModernPrimate, You keep insisting that the decoys “begged the men to come over”. Could you please provide a transcript from one of the phone calls or the chat logs to prove this. You also have claimed the girls put up sexy pictures of themselves on their online profiles. Could you please provide a link to those pictures. You’re claiming they did isn’t terribly helpful since you’ve repeatedly been proven wrong on this thread. If you can’t we’ll simply have to conclude that you’re imagining things. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-some-people-go-to-jail-for-2-years-for-being-on-to-catch-a-predator/598862/497 "2011-10-14T22:29:18Z")
> [@ModernPrimate](#): > > errrr… every country? Sure there are corrupt and abusive police systems out there, but not many would stoop so low as to allow that. Otherwise police could do that all day long to appear to be doing work. Some countries such as Netherlands and Sweden have outlawed all stings in every sense. If I ask you for a specific country, you cannot respond with “every country,” because all I have to so to show you wrong is provide one counter-example. In this case, though, I will treat your further suggestion of Netherlands and Sweden as the specific countries you’re suggesting. [This article](http://www.thelocal.se/24378/20100114/#) claims that Swedes do use sting operations: > [@](#): > > Six suspected gang members were arrested on Wednesday as police in southern Sweden seized weapons and explosives in a sting operation targeting the Topdogz criminal organization, local newspaper Sydsvenskan reports. And so do the [Netherlands:](http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/149801/dutch_police_fbi_rein_in_large_botnet.html) > [@](#): > > The botnet created by a teenager who was arrested by Dutch police in a sting operation is most notable for its total reliance on social engineering to spread, computer security experts said Thursday. So now that I have at least some authority to the contrary, perhaps you could provide some cites for your claims that the Dutch and the Swedes don’t? > [@](#): > > Yes, but the persuasion means entrapment. Did you read my post about predisposition to commit a crime, and how that nullifies the persuasion and defeats an entrapment defense? > [@](#): > > No, no, no. The decoys DO keep asking them over on the phone. Anyone that has watched the show regularly can attest to that. What we established was that the decoys don’t bring up sex first. They do openly beg them to come over on the phone and actively phone their phones multiple times. If they didn’t do that, I mightn’t be here arguing this at all. We’ve seen exactly one example of that. Where are the others? ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-some-people-go-to-jail-for-2-years-for-being-on-to-catch-a-predator/598862/498 "2011-10-14T22:36:46Z")
> [@ModernPrimate](#): > > No. I asked if someone else who viewed the shows would confirm it, and if not then I would find the links. Unfortunately the show tonight here was a repeat and I did not want to view it. That’s a pretty low standard you’ve set for yourself, especially considering that the standard you had for your opponents was eight different chat transcripts where the decoy was not the first to bring up sex. But when it comes to you proving that the decoys “beg” the men to visit them during phone conversations, someone else agreeing with you is supposed to be compelling evidence? Oh, and if no one steps up then maybe you’ll find some actual cites, if you feel like it. Well, that’s not the way we do things around here. > [@ModernPrimate](#): > > No, no, no. The decoys DO keep asking them over on the phone. Anyone that has watched the show regularly can attest to that. What we established was that the decoys don’t bring up sex first. They do openly beg them to come over on the phone and actively phone their phones multiple times. Just repeating the same claim again and again is not the same thing as actually providing evidence. FWIW I did see _To Catch a Predator_ several times when it was on the air in the US, and I do not remember any of the decoys ever behaving in the way that you describe. Perhaps I missed the episodes where they did repeatedly beg the men to visit them, but if this happened frequently then I don’t know why it’s so difficult for you to prove it. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-some-people-go-to-jail-for-2-years-for-being-on-to-catch-a-predator/598862/499 "2011-10-14T22:38:29Z")
> [@ModernPrimate](#): > > \*\*False. \*\* > > You see this is what I mean by people making things up to suit themselves. > > The decoys had yahoo profiles and pictures on them, (with really sexy pictures if the guys’ descriptions are any way accurate). No. The pictures are chosen to be NOT sexy – although I concede that if one is a pedophile or a hebophile, the pictures in question might well be honestly described as sexy by them. But the pictures used are not otherwise sexually suggestive at all. > [@](#): > > And btw, who is checking the perverted-justice machines and what system do they have to make sure they aren’t edited afterwards? Let me guess, all they do is send on the chats to each other. At the very least that is ridiculously unprofessional for supposed police evidence. If I were caught, I would deny everything and say they edited the chats, and it would have to be thrown out for lack of evidence. And how would you explain your presence at the home? And again: did you read my post about how the evidence code works? Why do you believe that all you have to do is claim that they edited the chats? What portion of the evidence code are you reading to make you believe that’s how a trial would work? They have an off-site chat proxy server which records the chat and saves the file with a hashed value. They also make available to the police an additional proxy server with the same capability. The proxy server records chat in real time. ---
**Author:** ![ModernPrimate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85e7bf/32.png) [@ModernPrimate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ModernPrimate)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-some-people-go-to-jail-for-2-years-for-being-on-to-catch-a-predator/598862/500 "2011-10-14T22:47:27Z")
omg… I only created a topic. I didn’t mean to spend the rest of my life answering this stuff, much of it repeating itself. I will come back tomorrow and answer the replies. The workload is just too high. I regret to say I am also done with reading transcripts or anything to do with TCAP except from possibly watching new episodes on the show at night. If I read one more thing about a 40 year old man fantasizing about stuffing his thing down a virgin 14 year old girl’s wet pussy and throat and licking her all over, cuddling her tits and caressing and rubbing his thing all over her warm nude wet body all night long when her parents are away I think I’ll barf. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-some-people-go-to-jail-for-2-years-for-being-on-to-catch-a-predator/598862/501 "2011-10-14T22:54:02Z")
> [@ModernPrimate](#): > > It depends on if yahoo chat histories are encrypted and it’s almost impossible to break the encryption. If they’re not encrypted (or the encryption is easily broken) then it would be exceptionally hard for the predator to prove that he didn’t just write in some stuff afterwards. Police do not obtain the perpetrator’s computer immediately after the arrest. Proxy server. Off-site. Inaccessible to decoy. Police offered opportunity to have second proxy server at their control. Chat logs stored with md5 hash. Next? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-some-people-go-to-jail-for-2-years-for-being-on-to-catch-a-predator/598862/502 "2011-10-14T22:55:20Z")
> [@ModernPrimate](#): > > omg… I only created a topic. I didn’t mean to spend the rest of my life answering this stuff, much of it repeating itself. I will come back tomorrow and answer the replies. The workload is just too high. The problem is your refusal to acknowledge points made against you, and to repeat points that have been debunked. Start doing that, and you can reduce your workload dramatically. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-some-people-go-to-jail-for-2-years-for-being-on-to-catch-a-predator/598862.md?page=24) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-some-people-go-to-jail-for-2-years-for-being-on-to-catch-a-predator/598862.md?page=26)