We were so excited to receive news of the following story from Trey, our resident “sex sting” advocate.
Finally, one of the MANY, MANY victims of the Central Florida Sex Sting Scams fought back by filing a lawsuit against the Police who had entrapped him.
We’ve know for a long time that these sex stings are a bait and switch scam. Police place or respond to personal ads on OVER 18 websites such as Craigslist, reel in the target with heated exchanges, and then pull a switch by introducing a hypothetical minor into the conversation.
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. —
A man arrested in a child sex sting is suing the Orange County Sheriff’s Office on claims of entrapment.
Kenneth Hochstein’s attorney said deputies tried to entrap his client, who he said never had any intentions of meeting a 14-year-old girl.
After Hochstein’s arrest, he was not allowed to see his children and put on leave from his job as a federal corrections officer.
Sheriff’s Office video of the 2011 sex sting showed men who responded to a Craigslist ad which advertised a woman and her 14-year-old daughter for sex.
Hochstein inquired, saying he was interested only if the daughter was at least 18.
Attorney Patrick Megaro said Hochstein never intended to have sex with a minor.
“Every time the police suggested that he carry on any sort of sexual conduct with anyone under the age of 18, he specifically disavowed that,” Megaro said.
Megaro said once Hochstein showed up at the home to meet the woman, the undercover detectives told him it would be three of them and never mentioned the third was underage.
Hochstein was arrested, but a judge tossed out the charges a year later, saying the Sheriff’s Office failed to clearly communicate that there was a child involved.
“The way the police did this was using trickery and entrapping him,” Megaro said.
Hochstein was put on unpaid leave for a year during the investigation. The Department of Children and Families didn’t let him see his four children for two years.
He’s suing the Sheriff’s Office which he said severely tarnished his reputation.
“No matter how much evidence that proved this man did nothing wrong, people are going to look at him as a child molester,” Megaro said.
Hochstein has no criminal history on record on central Florida.
This happened to me in New Mexico on gay dating and hookup sites. These people have made my life very difficult and I believe they have gone so far as to try to destroy my reputation in my profession as well as in the community. My relationship with my family was damaged also. What can I do and is there anyone that can help me to set things right again? I was solicited for sex as well as explicit sexual conversation by people posing as men in their twenties but that information changed after things got explicit. What they didn’t realize is that I took pictures of the profiles prior to the changes to them reflecting a change in the age so I have evidence that they were consenting adults when we spoke. I also took pics of the conversations showing that they encouraged sexual content and even asked to connect for sex
There is, Brian.
FAC is the Florida Affiliate of NationalRSOL (Reform Sex Offender Laws). Your State, New Mexico, has an affiliate too; The Liberty and Justice Coalition, which can be found here: http://libjusco.net/?page_id=38
Reach out to them and become involved.
I was arrested in 2013 in an Internet Sex Sting called Cardea. I was charged with Traveling to meet a Minor, and Soliciting a Minor. The charges were ultimately dismissed due to Entrapment. The judge’s approval of the Motion to Dismiss states that I was Entrapped by the police, that I was not involved in any illegal activity, and that the officer created the crime. The motion also shows that the investigation into myself was unauthorized.
In 2015 I was randomly arrested and charged with Attempted Lewd & Lascivious Battery on the same fake minor, in the same Criminal Episode from the original case which was already proved to be Entrapment as a matter of law. The State is on record saying there is no new evidence, every detail to the case is the same, except for the charge.
I filed a Writ of Prohibition with the 5th DCA, based on Res Judicata, but the motion was denied Per Curium.
I am an American citizen who is legally disabled, I am deaf. I do not understand how this is possible, that I am being charged for the same Criminal Episode yet again, and it not be a form of Double Jeopardy. I especially do not understand how I can be charged again for the same Criminal Episode, when it has already been proven that the police officer created the crime via Entrapment as a matter of law.
It is my understanding that no one has ever been charged again after a case was proved to be Entrapment. Or at the very least, not in an Internet Sex Sting case that I can find.
Here is a copy of the judge approving my Motion To Dismiss: [REDACTED]
Here is a copy of the Writ of Prohibition to the 5th DCA: [REDACTED]
The next step is obviously to file another Motion to Dismiss based on Entrapment, but I am being told that the courts and judge are doing anything possible to get me in front of a jury for this fake crime I was already tried for, which was proven Entrapment, and created by the police.
Is this really legal? Isn’t entrapment a violation of my Constitutional Rights? Isn’t this a violation of Due Process? Do people really go to prison for being Entrapped? I’m scared to death!
I am seeking any an all available avenues of advice, as I am looking for legal representation, including Civil. If you yourself, or someone you know can help, please contact me.
Thank you,
[REDACTED]