Comments on: Sex Trafficking Stings, Lifetime Registration, and Ethics

By: joy

joy — Mon, 08 Aug 2022 23:16:42 +0000

I read this article very carefully because Im one of those that you described. I was on an adult only site looking to meet an adult female. I knew it was not a minor I got my suspitions and did a backgroud check and learned that the info i was given belonged to an adult female.I gave the policy several declination to their travel offers after day 5 i wanted to see who this person was and showed up and was arrested, I had no condons, chocolate or alchohol on me. basically the person came out to the street and I realized was not the one from the pic and was when i decided to get of from my car. I went to trial and lost and got 48 months in prison. and lifetime sex offender. Now I have seen people having sex with teenager and getting prosecuted and some of them getting charges dropped and other getting probation or county time. I dont undertand how is legal to get 20 years for thinking about doing something that someone else put in your mind!! that is unconstitutional because is severe punishment but somehow no attorney is bringing that to the florida supreme court. I dont know.. sometimes I think is all a game.

By: CherokeeJack

CherokeeJack — Tue, 02 Aug 2022 20:03:29 +0000

In reply to Re:. To Re: No where in my statement did I say that. I said it happens, I did not say anyone expected an easier sentence. Please clean your glasses and re-read what I wrote instead. I said people who view child porn are often getting more time than those who actually had physical contact.

By: Re:

Re: — Tue, 02 Aug 2022 16:08:53 +0000

In reply to CherokeeJack. No one who has sexual contact with a minor should expect easier treatment than for a non-contact offense. G-d help you if you assume otherwise.

By: CherokeeJack

CherokeeJack — Tue, 02 Aug 2022 15:49:19 +0000

In reply to No, the Gov’t Does Not Make Money From Child Pornography.

I do not think anyone is denying there should be consequences for child porn. What I and many are saying is, some are being sentenced for way longer for just viewing photos than someone who actually had a sexual encounter with a real minor. Same thing with stings, I have seen someone get more time for “Thinking” they were going to meet a minor than someone who actually did meet a “Real” one.

Intentions should not get you more time than someone who actually committed a physical act with a minor. But depending on where you live, the prosecutor and how many crazy charges they throw at you, and how good or bad your lawyer is, you could be totally screwed.

Also, and this is a probably the biggest of them all, the mindset of the judge you are assigned to. Two different people with the same charge, can get a different judge. One person gets probation and the other one gets 5 years in prison. Especially insane in my case where I had never even had a speeding ticket in my life. As a first-time offender I was thrown into the oven by the judge to be baked on the “Extra crispy” setting.

By: No, the Gov’t Does Not Make Money From Child Pornography

No, the Gov’t Does Not Make Money From Child Pornography — Tue, 02 Aug 2022 14:26:42 +0000

The sad fact is that there is far more child porn out there than the government has the power to delete. And much of it circulates for free, with no money involved. Our Media Chair disseminated a New York Times article on this.

But the downloading or sharing of such material is relatively straightforward to detect and to prove to a jury. Production can be a little harder to prosecute but carries a Federal mandatory minimum of 15 years so a prosecutor with probable cause won’t shy away from those cases, either.

I believe FAC’s position remains, child porn is a crime. We can have a legitimate discussion regarding sentencing guidelines, mandatory minimums, and collateral consequences, but I think we ought to resist the temptation to appear angry at prosecutors for doing their job in prosecuting these types of crimes.

(Now, sting operations involving fake children in a bait-and-switch can be a different matter, I get that).

By: Luther S.

Luther S. — Tue, 02 Aug 2022 14:23:25 +0000

In reply to CherokeeJack.

Thank you CherokeeJack… I want to believe that, but we live in a world today that is almost void of God the Father, The Son, and the holy Spirit. Most Christians out there today, believe God can cure sickness, heal bones, raise someone from the dead… However, ask them to believe that the Lord can cure mental illness and remove child predator thought, to them, that is just something God cannot, or will not, do…
However, concerning me and my house? We believe God is capable to do all, and more…
Thank you
for your comments.
Luther S.

By: CherokeeJack

CherokeeJack — Tue, 02 Aug 2022 13:51:27 +0000

In reply to Luther S.. Luther You said: "Unfortunately… In the state of Tennessee I’ll be wearing an ankle monitor for the rest of my natural days. " Brother, do NOT claim that. Give it to God and if it is His will, He will restore you eventually. Just keep doing the right thing and do not give them any reason to send you back. I cannot promise you will be freed from Monitor, but I can promise you if it is His will, then it will be so. In the meantime, do not give in to temptation. Stay strong and if not for yourself, for your family.

By: Luther S.

Luther S. — Tue, 02 Aug 2022 13:27:41 +0000

Concerning this week’s editorial about reverse tech to catch those putting CP out there:
I agree with that assessment. However, as a friend told me, the governments don’t want to catch the makers of such because, once ALL CP is gone, then people wouldn’t be going TO prison as much. The government doesn’t want the CP to stop because there is BIG money funding these “stings”… there is BIG money in prosecuting the viewing offenders… there’s BIG money in housing the offenders for decades… and there BIG money in registering the offender on a website for the rest of there life.
If you eliminated all CP from being made and distributed on the internet with the high-tech technology, then you wouldn’t have as many offenders, purposely, or accidentally. Thousands of people would lose their jobs or be reassigned… there would be less money for prisons, private or otherwise… ankle monitor makers stocks would go down because there would be fewer sex offenders from CP.
Governments and BIG business WANT the CP to continue on the internet so they can still get those MEGA BUCKS from the taxpayers…
It’s simple economics… Allow CP to be readily available; use scare tactics to super frighten the taxpayers into believing ALL SEX OFFENDERS WILL REOFFEND; build a huge business that is funded by taxpayer dollars and approved by the frightened taxpayers; keep the lie going thru false information thru various media…
This is how our government works… look at COVID… I’m not saying it doesn’t exist… I’m not saying people haven’t died from it (I have friends and family who have)… but look at how the government put unadulterated FEAR into the nation, the world… and now they continue to keep that fear going, milking every dime they can out of the American people… each new varient is money in their pockets, ESPECIALLY BIG PHARMA… and I can almost guarantee that there are some high up government officials who have their hands DEEP in big Pharma’s pockets… and where do you think they learned a lot of this type of governmental taxpayer funded big dollar theft from??
Government officials in every state have their big ol’ paws so deep in businesses that provide sex offender commitment centers, ankle monitors, websites, fees for parole offices and officers whose only job is sex offender supervision, etc, there is no way this is EVER going to end.
Am I disgruntled, sure… I did my time… walked to the police station and turned myself in when I found out I was under investigation… went to prison for 15 years and thank the Lord for it because it removed me from that addictive behavior… now I just want to get my life back… become a productive member of society again…
Unfortunately… In the state of Tennessee I’ll be wearing an ankle monitor for the rest of my natural days. 😑

By: Ed C

Ed C — Tue, 02 Aug 2022 12:48:14 +0000

A couple of years back I attended a series of hearings regarding a man arrested for solicitation. He was chatting up a 16-year-old in a downtown hotel lobby while she was waiting for her mother to get off work. There was no direct sex talk but an offer for lunch sometime with her and perhaps her mother. He had given the young woman his phone number.

When the mother arrived, she whisked her daughter away and was angry about the encounter. Unfortunately for the man, the mother was a federal prosecutor who went upstairs and arranged a sting with her state counterparts. The other salient fact is that the age of consent in this state is 16, so even if he had made sexual proposals no law would have been violated.

The sting required the investigator pretending to be “Gwen” to say she was only 15, and enticed him into meeting at a convenience store where he was arrested. The happy ending was that the (female) judge ruled that since the original legal encounter did not represent a predisposition to illegal activity the man was entraped, and she dismissed the case. The unhappy ending was that the process took over a year during which he was held pretrial.

As far as I know, neither the federal nor the state officials were in any way reprimanded, nor would a federal lawsuit be feasable due to qualified immunity. This case is clearly an example of just how low law enforcement can go to get the “bad guys.”

By: FR

FR — Tue, 02 Aug 2022 11:37:25 +0000

Well written and sensible!! Thank you.