Internet sting operations: Seekingout Sexual Predators
As many people have watched on television, there has been an increasing number of internet sting operations, usually conducted by law enforcement, to try and locate what are commonly referred to as “online sex predators.” The police agencies carrying out these sting operations will use adult “decoys” to go into various internet chat rooms on different sites and pose as minors. The objective is to locate adult men and/or women who get into sexually explicit conversations with minors.
These internet sting operations have been taking place regularly on sites like myspace, yahoo, aol, facebook, etc… where minors are known to visit. The “decoys” will often tell the person they are chatting with that they are 13 or 14 years old because the penalties for attempting to violate California Penal Code section 288 with a minor 14 years of age or younger are more severe than if the minor was 15, 16 or 17. After the “decoy” finds an adult to chat with, and has a sexually exciting conversation with them, the “decoy” will sometimes go a step further and invite the adult to set up a meeting in which the sexual acts they discussed online can actually take place. The “decoy” may even email photographs of him/her self that are really another person, or just an old picture of themselves.
This is done with the purpose of gaining the trust and confidence of the adult they are chatting with. Remember, it doesn’t matter what the actual age of the person you are chatting with is, or what his/her gender is, or even that they send you a fake photo. The chat itself is considered illegal and sending photos of your genitalia to a person you may believe to be a minor is illegal. If the adult that was invited to a get-together shows up at the meeting place, they are arrested by police for attempted lewd/lascivious behavior with a child.
You may have seen or heard about Dateline NBC’s special reports entitled “To Catch a Predator.” On this show, they were working with the online company “Perverted Justice” and local law enforcement agencies in various cities around the country. Dateline NBC has aided in several online sting operations just like the ones described above. One such sting operation took place in early 2006 in Riverside County. It was the first of Dateline’s sting operations to include the cooperation of local law enforcement. Approximately 50 men were arrested as a result.
The sex crimes defense attorneys at WILL & WILL, LLP have defended and are still defending several of these same men in what have been commonly referred to as the “dateline cases.” Court Will, one of our firm’s partners, was featured on the cover of the Press Enterprise newspaper as the first attorney to not only take one of these cases to trial, but to achieve a full dismissal of all charges for his client as a result.
Obviously, one should use extreme caution when speaking with a stranger over the internet. Regardless of what they say, or how often you speak with them and how well you believe you know them, you should never discuss anything even remotely sexual with someone identifying himself or herself as a minor. You never know if the person on the other end of the computer is really who they say they are. In addition, what one person construes as “innocent” conversation, another may misinterpret as something very different and use it against you.
If you or a loved one has been targeted by an internet sting operation and are being investigated for or charged with a sex-related criminal offense, you need a skilled, knowledgeable, and experienced sex crimes defense lawyer representing you. At WILL & WILL, LLP, our sex crimes defense team of former prosecutors and career defense attorneys has handled many of these types of cases. We can help you too. Call us or fill out our online contact form today for a free consultation. These are extremely serious matters that the District Attorney’s office never takes lightly…neither should you.
