When Everything Is Fake - Is It A Crime???

Dragonfly said:

BBC News - Webcam sex with fake girl Sweetie leads to sentence

So this is taking the "To Catch A Predator" thing to the next level.

I'm not sure exactly how I feel about this. Obviously there's a lot that's wrong and punishable, but at what point is all this a crime and at what point is it entrapment?

Everything is done online. There's no child. It's all fake.

The flip side is obviously some of these guys are truly sick.

Do you support this kind of police activity and prosecution?

I know some people thought the "To Catch A Predator" show was going too far.

Is this going too far?

Click to expand...

I do not believe this is actually the first time this has been prosecuted, though it may be the first time in Australia. The US has long prosecuted even obvious "fake" illegal underage porn, which as far as I'm concerned makes it a "thought crime". The government is overstepping its bounds in doing so.

The "To Catch a Predator" series, in my mind, is a gray area, but I still conclude that those stings were fine. The enticement is laid out there, but as I understand it the person still had to make first contact. The people arrested and prosecuted weren't going for 'fake', they believed they were getting the real thing.

Dragonfly said:

BBC News - Webcam sex with fake girl Sweetie leads to sentence



So this is taking the "To Catch A Predator" thing to the next level.

I'm not sure exactly how I feel about this. Obviously there's a lot that's wrong and punishable, but at what point is all this a crime and at what point is it entrapment?

Everything is done online. There's no child. It's all fake.

The flip side is obviously some of these guys are truly sick.

Do you support this kind of police activity and prosecution?

I know some people thought the "To Catch A Predator" show was going too far.

Is this going too far?

Click to expand...

If the would-be pedophile initiated the meeting then that's certainly not entrapment. Granted, my criminal justice degree was earned from years of watching CSI and Murder She Wrote, but I don't see how this is different than any other sting operation.

Dragonfly said:

BBC News - Webcam sex with fake girl Sweetie leads to sentence



So this is taking the "To Catch A Predator" thing to the next level.

I'm not sure exactly how I feel about this. Obviously there's a lot that's wrong and punishable, but at what point is all this a crime and at what point is it entrapment?

Everything is done online. There's no child. It's all fake.

The flip side is obviously some of these guys are truly sick.

Do you support this kind of police activity and prosecution?

I know some people thought the "To Catch A Predator" show was going too far.

Is this going too far?

Click to expand...

I am fine with it. These people who are trying to seduce and rape children need to be removed from society and earth.

I don't have a problem with law enforcement doing these types of sting operations as long as they are done in an ethical manner (not crossing the line into entrapment). The problem I have with it is that it is being done by vigilantes who aren't subject to the same oversight and constitutional limitations that law enforcement is and who may not have adequate training.