Copycat of "To Catch a Predator", which was sick TV. This is just sick Internet.

My biggest problem with these isn't that this is a bait and switch or entrapment, but it is taking the focus off the majority of sexual assaults. This kind of crime receives a lot of attention, but isn't even close to the most prevalent and while glamorous to run these kinds of investigations, it's not practical to help the most people. If you ask me, that should te goal of any crime prevention program, how do we get the most bang for our buck yet at the same time affecting and helping the most amount of people. These investigations fall short by 20 miles!

So ... let me get this straight - LE has to follow rules for doing these kind of stings but becasue he is a private citizen (in a way) he can do this? They say there are all these court cases etc. but I would like to know the true statistics about these cases. I would bet many if not all of them are thrown out.

Once again though Independent your rush to defend the methods of this person flabbergast me. First of all these types of arrests whether done by LE or this guy (I hesitate here becasue I really would like to call him some names but I will refrain) help absolutely no one becasue there is no real victim! However, we have had these types of conversations before. Also you have NO idea until you actually read the transcripts of conversations between this guy and the arrested whether it was bait and switch or entrapment! You cannot make that assessment from the news articles in any way shape or form.

I do agree with you that these types of arrests are all the rage and people find them upsetting - we all know that the majority of sex crimes are so far removed from what the public image is it is mind boggling - but this type is sensational and comfortable for the public - and as long as they can ignore the truth they will.

I completely agree with you Advocate! My husband the the only real victim in one of these stings! I have read the papers with the court case. He argued the fact that the "underage 14 year old girl" was not 14. She was an undercover cop in her 20's and the profile picture was of her. Now anybody in their right mind can see that she is not 14!

I wasn't defending the police advocate, i am saying the biggeat harm for society is we are focused on the wrong crime. As everyone knows most sexual assaults are perpetrated by people the victims knows and usually knows quite well. The focus on stranger danger is targeting only a small fraction of the sexual assaults. It makes zero sense to spend the majority of the police budget attacking less than 5% of sexual assault cases. That is ludicrous!

If we want people to get on board with our movement we can't just be negative about how unfair the process is. It is and we all agree that it is. The registry in its current form is unconstitutional and we all can see that plain as day. We can't be negative though, we have to put a positive behind it. My positive is to try and turn the focus on where it is most needed, where 90% or more of the crime is occurring and away from the stupidity we have now in to catach a predator style gotcha schemes.

Alexsmommy9, my son is facing this scenario also. The Missouri statue is specifically written to say that arguing that no actual children were involved is not a defense. In my son's case, he realized from the beginning the person he was talking to was fake and several times said things like "you could be anyone" as when he refused to call a number he was given or "you could be some big guy out to stab me" when refusing a meeting. But they kept at him until he agreed to a meeting in a public place, so he could see who was actually behind it. His real mistake was believing it couldn't be the police because surely the police couldn't hound someone and encourage them the way they had.

But all of his doubts may either be written out of the court case, or the judge could instruct the jury to ignore them, because the statute specifically allows the police to use these tactics and excludes their use from being a defense.