Entrapment for Profit: The Disturbing Truth About Operation Net Nanny
There’s a must read article in The Appeal about the very disturbing and deeply problematic “Operation Net Nanny” that pretended to be a child sex trafficking operation, but was actually a manufactured crime wave that destroyed dozens of lives in Washington state.
We encourage you to read the article, which can be found here: https://theappeal.org/net-nanny-washington-state-police-stings/ and share it. For those who want a preview, here are some excerpts:
“It was more of a scam than it was detective work,” Dan Wright, Ezra’s father, told The Appeal. “The undercover operative … heavily steer[ed] the conversation” toward an in-person hookup.
“Hundreds … put on lifetime sex-offender registries.”
“Rodriguez and WSP helped supply OUR with positive media exposure and sensational arrest numbers that the organization could use to impress donors.”
“Kelly calls the Net Nanny stings ‘inefficient and largely a waste of taxpayer money,’ noting … the cost of litigating cases in which there are issues with entrapment.”
Regarding the tactics used: “Police are ‘luring people into behaving in a way that they would not otherwise have behaved, and are then arresting them for that behavior,’” which Kelly says makes “the arrest … unconstitutional.”
As a former undercover-FBI operative put it: “The chats they were doing were aggressive … and that this sort of aggressiveness can become entrapment.”
“The entrapment issue had been raised on more than one occasion, in more than one jurisdiction … if two separate prosecutors in two separate counties raised the same issue, there’s an issue.”
Even on the key metric of “rescued children,” described by operatives as 31 children “saved” through the stings — a counting method was revealed: they simply added up the children in each arrested person’s family and declared them rescued. “You can’t count those,” said one former ICAC-task-force official. By accepted standards, the actual number of children rescued by Net Nanny is zero.
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the toll on family members of the accused is huge. might as well have leprosy the way they are treated. the guy i know couldn’t even get off house arrest to go shopping for food. the probation officers kept “forgetting” to open his box. i’m sick of the farce our system has become.
Here’s one to add to the list of UNCONSTITUTIONAL…I was in an adult chat room, 18 or older. With a box to check, saying that you are over eighteen years of age or older. (Yahoos terms and conditions). Back in ‘2006, before computers started coming out with cameras on them, I bought a webcam and hooked it up. The name of yahoos chat room was ROMANCE. While I was in there, I got a couple two or three im’s saying “if you see screen name so and so, click on it. A couple weeks go by and I get these im’s from this screen name. So we started chatting and then role playing began. I had hooked my web cam up and I began doing things on camera and they were recording me and turned out to be detectives from Martin County Fl. Three and a half hours away. They came to south Daytona Fl. Broke into my moble home and went through all my stuff. They took my computer equipment hoping to find indecent exposure stuff. There was none. They never produced a search warrant to this day. I did a total of 10 years for at best “having a thought”. Yahoo broke their terms and conditions, by allowing people to pretend they are under age when they checked the box, saying they were of age. I had probation two times. They found reasons to violate me both times. Finally the third judge in Martin county gave me two and a half years and terminated my probation. I literally did 10 full years, not eighty five percent. But it continues with registering twice a year. I was even told by one of the CO’s on my way out that I need to get a GOOD lawyer, because it’s so unconstitutional. They even got so picky that they arrested me for having a car in my driveway and the tag not being on my list. It was my roommates car and it was here for two years. Cost $8,000 and six months house arrest. So yeah, our justice system isn’t fair at all.
After reading the entire original article it reflect the exact type of scheme we all know it to be. Entrapment and money grabbing by the cops with inflated statistics to create a popular opinion of the bogey man. Each time that these illegal operations result in an arrest it adds to our problems.
The registry is grown and emboldened by these fraudulent stings and the restrictions against persons forced to register grow at an alarming rate.
Do we have any data on the additional registration requirements being added in areas the stings took place? Or data nationwide in relation to the stings. It might be that we can show correlation between the illegal sting and the additional severe punishments being added.
I got caught in one of these sting. It was on an adult website. They did a bait and switch on me. I never traveled, and refused to travel because of the age they told me. They still tracked me down and arrested me on a military base 150 miles outside of their jurisdiction. I was found guilty of illicit communications.with a minor by a very biased court and an equally biased jury. I spent 6 years in prison and have spent 6 more of my 8 years on probation. I have to register as a SO for the rest of my life. They destroyed my life when I told them I refused to travel. I got unfairly convicted, and sentenced above normal because I was made an example of due to my military status. I was even plastered all over the news. I have my probation violated because they treat me as a violent offender and I do not even have a victim. Nor ever attempted. I get jailed for no reason now other than whatever probation officers make up. They are very retaliatory when I try to defend myself. I served my xou try for 21 years, she’s blood and tears, now I have no freedom, I wear an ankle monitor, not allowed to defend myself, can’t go anywhere, I’m imprisoned in a county with very limited places to go. I’m treated like a monster and a piece of trash all because I had a dirty conversation on an adult website and stopped communicating when they tried to get me to travel. I later found out, that I was a trophy for a cop and that the Tallahassee police department received 100s of thousands of dollars for these ICAC stings. But I’m stuck now with no way out. I know I’ll be on a registry for the rest of my life and I didn’t harm a single person. There are several people on here that know this story and know me personally because I have a very unique story with these stings
My similar out of oceola county. Did not travel meet on adult site and did the age switch and a friend then later read sent image from my phone was a undercover sting. Well that is is got me for life. I was retired military at least but just out from medical issues going through divorce from cheating and all. Yeah now ankle monitor and all on my leg no freedom
Those of us that were falsely accused or wrongfully convicted understand exactly what you mean. Being manipulated by the cops and trapped isn’t fun. We both know that the registry is unconstitutional as it is punitive. Keep up hope that this scam of theirs will eventually fall apart.
Wrongfully convicted and entrapment. Police lying on police report and judge making a lie in the courtroom to justify sending you to prison. This is what I experienced and I feel for you guys who have went through similar. I made a petition on change.org for my case and you guys should consider doing the same because maybe it may help make a difference somehow.
these stings are an affront to justice. once caught in the justice system whirlpool, the chances of someone getting their life back is almost zero. i know a guy with no victim who was just arrested again for paying his rent without permission. now he’s back in jail to pay more money to the state. he never hurt anyone but he’s a “dangerous” criminal and has to punished for life because of these stings.
Nothing but scams by agencies to milk extra funds by white knighting over fictional scenarios. Judges are too scared to rule it unconstitutional even when it obviously is.