@Disgusted

Not to be harsh but you are only partially right. The prosecutors bring out all the big guns to get a prosecution. They will bring in a phycologist who will testify that the mindset of men who go on these sites could care less the age as long as the person is willing. And the tax payers money is no object in the pursuit of winning no matter who gets hurt in the process.
Meanwhile, felons with non sex offender crimes, have 5 to 20 crimes on their records and keep getting sentenced to anywhere from probation to a few years in prison with early release possible.

@Disgusted

As a former cop, I can assure you, some cops like to go for the easy, low hanging fruit. Most people arrested for a sex offense are non-violent and hang their heads in shame and do not resist arrest. Many of us confess without a fight and are easily convicted. I was never even offered a lawyer and when I asked for one, they threatened to put my story on the news unless I confessed.

JJJJ

I remember about 20 years ago there was a 15 year old boy on a site and he had only a photo from the neck down. He said he was 18. He went to meet a woman who claimed to be 25. When they met, the woman was his own MOM LOL
His Mom and Dad were divorced and the boy lived with his Dad who was at work at the time.
My point is, not everyone on those site tell the truth about their age and in this case, neither did.

@Jack

Of course it’s bait and switch and not a so-called “sting.”

It’s no different than those random white vans that roll-up trying to unload and fence stolen goods.

If cops spent as much time and resources investigating real crimes instead of trying to create a criminal situation the public would be much safer.

That’s why guys in situations like that need to take it to trial. If I’m out in public talking to a girl who appears to be over the age of consent, and also claims to be over 18, and then after a half hour or so of talking she tells me she’s really 14 and I immediately end the conversation and walk away, how is that a crime?
If someone is talking to a girl in a chatroom who says she’s 21 and the conversation gets sexual and then she admits to being only 14 and I immediately tell her I’m done talking and log off, there is no crime. If I were to be arrested for something like that, there’s no jury in the world who would convict me.

Interesting.
I remember about 20 years ago I was in a chat room and got a private message from someone who claimed to be a young teen. They had seen my profile pic and wanted to hook up. I promptly replied with a very politically correct lecture. (Haha) That cop dropped me like a hot potato and resumed his “hunt”. –(Who are the REAL predators, after all??)

That is what we really could use: people who have the time and ability to collect email addresses.

We could also use a list of all the email addresses for the members of the U.S. Congress.

Thank you for this offer, JJJJ. We will be working on how we can use your skills.

@JJJJ
Not sticking up for them but I know most of them are on adult sites looking for adults. Then deputies or FDLE agents get online and pretend to be a 14 year old boy/girl and their fake profile says they are 18. After talking to the person, the cops then say something like, “Hey I like you a lot but I have a secret, I am really only 16, or 14” or whatever age under 18.

Some of the people log out and say “Oh Hell no” but the cops still arrest them just for conversing with the fake underaged person. They get the IP address, make the arrest and figure the person that is caught will end up taking a plea which still puts them on the registry, the news and other hit list.