Since grant money is available to communities that prosecute more sex crimes, the incentive is to create more sex crimes that can then be prosecuted. This is why the new law being passed is to insure that sex-trafficking pimps get a database of potential customers.

When I saw the age I thought it was a typo because the picture looked like a 19 or 20 year old…

…so you ask the person, 10 times if you have to, how old they are and if they are not of adult age YOU STAY AWAY. If you are not sure of their age, YOU STAY AWAY.

I thought it was a typo is not a defense. You are the adult, it is your job to make sure you are with an adult and not a child.

Do a records search in whatever county of your choice for either 847.0135(3) or 847.0135(4).
I did.
From the year 2007 to 2011 there were 4 arrests for violations of 847.0135(4).
That’s right… 4.
Within the first 3 months of 2012 there were 51.
And yes, all 51 were the result of 2 police stings.
Was there an unmanageable number of these crimes taking place in that county? No.
When a request was made as to how many investigations were opened for either of these crimes I was told that was confidential information.

Indeed.

Four arrests over almost a 5 year period is hardly justification.

Sc:

Damn good questions. Maybe you should ask a reporter to pose them to some government or LE official and watch them tap dance around them. Guessing the answers are: None, highly doubtful, and non-existent, respectively.

I was arrested in a CL sting in 08 at the time I had been using the site for about 1-2 years occasionally coming across a internet troll every now and then when I first encountered law enforcement that’s exactly what I believed another troll because even though he declared himself to be a minor 3 things that didn’t sit well with me 1 Their grammar complete with punctuation didn’t match the age they were claiming to be 2 I believed that the sites terms of service were sufficient enough to be legally binding and 3 Each time I had contact with said troll it was initiated by them not me. So I played along for awhile then I got tired of the games and ended it. Then they hit me with a sob story and invited me to lunch I went ( stupid I know) where I was arrested I had a traveling to meet which they had to drop for a couple of reasons the only charge they could make stick was Soliciting via the internet because of strict liability I had to take a plea. My point is either terms of service means something or it doesn’t if a minor really wants to have sex with a adult all they have to do is go to school church or dance class. Social media stings ruin people’s lives

Sc: This is exactly what I want to know.
This is the question every defense criminal attorney should be asking law enforcement and prosecutors in these cases, but they don’t because they want to keep the fact hidden that it just doesn’t happen.
I want to know if it really is common for teens to go onto adult sites and volunteer free sex to random adult strangers, while giving out their actual “minor” age. That would be the only reason why law enforcement should look for these supposed “child predators” on adult sites. I’ve never heard of any real case like this. It just doesn’t happen. If it has ever happened, it would be extremely rare.

Dear MJ, you posted “All you have to do is go look up US Code 42 in the federal laws…” That is an incomplete code. Do you have the actual title and section? It should read something like Title 18 USC section 42 as an example. Or an abbreviation is 18 USC 42. Btw, 18 USC 42 is a criminal code regulating “shipment of injurious mammals, birds, fish (including mollusks and crustacea), amphibia, and reptiles; permits, specimens for museums; regulations.” Thanks.

FAC,

They already restrict minors. They have no control over minors (or anyone else) who input false information to gain access to their sites or apps. Some require credit cards, but anyone can get a prepaid card. Exactly what other steps would you propose?

Once again, it all comes down to parents keeping a better eye on what sites their kids access, or even eliminating internet access at home if necessary. Checking internet history isn’t rocket science. There are apps for parents to GPS and internet history track their kids’ cell phones that are free or cost little (I’ve often wondered why POs don’t use those instead of the costlier ones till I realized that the higher cost is most likely the reason they want registrants to use them).

A different question,

How many adults have met minors using these sites prior to these stings?

Do the numbers warrant an untenable number that law enforcement is justified with the sting operation?

Where can we, the public, find these numbers that show how often an adult has used an adult site geared at meeting other adults to meet with minors?

I was arrested in a craigslist sting back in 2011 for the very same reasons you mentioned. I had used the site for 5 years and NEVER came across teens looking for sex on there. When I saw the age I thought it was a typo because the picture looked like a 19 or 20 year old. Again, like you said it’s one big scam. All you have to do is go look up US Code 42 in the federal laws and itll show you all the millions of dollars in grant money that is promised to states that create task forces and it literally says as a condition to get the money they have to increase the number of child sex crimes prosecuted. And as you say, it really isn’t a real problem, so they have to create it to get the results they want and label you a child predator. And since sex offenders are under the thumb of law enforcement for life, you’ve therefore created easy job security for fat, lazy ass cops. And that’s all it amounts to. Easy, lazy policing. Anyone can sit behind a computer screen with a badge and pretend to be a teenager and lure some unsuspecting horny young adult into committing a crime. How about go into the “hood” and fight some real crime why dont you? Or how about go over to Europe into the Muslim no-go zones and try to do some police work? Our govt, law enforcement, and legal system are out of control and need to be stopped. But the problem is, we’ve let it get way too big and now it’s too late. If Donald Trump cant stop the deep state, what makes you think we can? Our entire country has become one big police state that is just trampling on the Constitution and our individual rights and we just continue to bend over and let em give it to us again and again and again.