Thank You, Aladdin I appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions. I also look forward to hearing work with post convictions and am sending prayers that it will be successful. I hope to hear more good news on this site and positive outcomes.

HeartStar, my son's diagnosis was exactly the same. The prosecutor's response was "if he's not arguing that he didn't know right from wrong, it doesn't matter." I talked to our attorney about "diminished capacity" but he was nervous about upsetting the deal he had made and didn't want to argue it.

I'm hopeful that you find a way to make it work for your son. My son was not on meds. His diagnosis came as part of the post-release evaluation. I think your son's known history of this disorder should certainly merit consideration.

I was recently arrested and charged with online solicitation of a minor: sexual conduct. It is ridiculous what they have done. I won't pretend to be totally innocent in the process, but I am not guilty of this charge at all. My mother passed away March 3rd. Around March 17th, my doctor (PCP) prescribed me an anti-depressant (Zoloft). We were not aware at the time, that I am bipolar, and the Zoloft sent me into a full-fledged manic episode, where I was impulsive, hyper-sexual, and lack good judgment. Again, this is not an excuse but plays into the inability to respond appropriately. I was on a chat app, while taking time off work to grieve. I posted several things of an adult chat app, called whisper, mostly grief over my mom, but I am sure some were flirtatious. I got a response from a "woman" who consoled me in my grief. We hit it off and talked. It started getting sexual and I played along. Then "she" informed me she was 15. I told her she was too young for the app. She kept coming back asking me about my grief process. I liked that attention. But it would turn sexual again and I told her to come see me in a year and a half when she was legal. She feigned anger, which bothered me because we had shared grief comforting. Over time, I got the impression that this individual was not a minor. The pics she sent were grainy selfies. When she mentioned "biting her lip", I asked for a pic of that, and she said she was "too shy to do that, but she was willing to show me that in person". I balked, but she kept pushing. Several other incidents took place which led me to believe I was talking to a grown woman with :daddy issues" that liked to pretend she was young. Every attempt to find out who she was for sure backfired, so one morning I decided I would call her bluff and agree to meet, half expecting her to make an excuse why she couldn't meet, or possibly that the grown woman would show and admit she was a catfish. Well, a grown woman DID show, along with a dozen other deputies. Not only was I shocked that they could go to these lengths to entrap someone like me, but I was appalled to realize they used my grief over my recent loss of my mother to establish an emotional connection in order to entrap me. I have always been very pro-law enforcement, and now I feel anger and resentment and mistrust when it comes to the law. I'm a professional counselor, I lost my job, almost lost my family, and possibly lost a very lucrative career even if the charges are dropped. It's tragic that in this day and age, the people who are supposed to protect and serve are destroying good people in their zealousness to make money and promote their "success". No victim in this case except me and my family.

I wonder how it would play out if concerned citizens set up stings to catch crooked police officers, with no regard to the good ones who accidentally fall into the traps for the bad ones.

Sandra -this is exactly what happened to my husband.. He was set up. He served 8 months (HE JUST GOT HOME! :)), is now on lifetime registration and on SVP status. We want to fight it now that he has served his time. Where do we start?

In my son's case, he was talking in a chat room that was supposed to be 18+, then was invited to speak privately using a chat app that was also rated 17+. They talked to him for three months before they got him to say six sentences about sex, and came after him for another month by chat, email, and text before they got him to agree to meet in a public place "just as friends."

Then they charged him with enticement of a minor, with a minimum of five years, no parole.

It might seem like a terrific case for entrapment. In fact, his lawyer said it was the first time he'd had someone with the charge with a real chance at getting off.

But... Well, to plead entrapment, you first have to plead guilty. You can't say "I didn't do it, and anyway it was entrapment." It has to be "I did it, but I was trapped into it." And if you can't prove then entrapment, the guilty plea sticks.

While we were trying to figure out what to do, the DA upped the ante. First, an assistant DA approached us with a deal that would mean no jail time and no registry. When we agreed to that, the DA overruled the ADA, saying that the deal was too good. Instead, they offered a much worse deal—plead guilty to two felonies, but ones where early parole was possible—or they'd add a second charge of enticement, a charge of attempted sodomy, and bring in the Feds for more charges. Plus, the DA told us that the judge would probably add two years, just for the aggravation of having a trial.

We got four days to decide. Were we getting played? Absolutely. Was there anything we could do about it? Nothing but throw the dice.

In the end, my son agreed to the plea. He just couldn't face the idea of the trial and the sentence that could be thirty years.

Oh, and part of his plea was that the DA got to destroy the transcript any any other evidence. Funny that they would ask for that, huh?

Did a judge allow the DA to destroy the transcripts? i am thinking that is way bad! Something is more than wrong with that scenario!