[quote][i]Originally posted by SomebodySomewhere[/i]
<br>Not to rain on the lynch mob here, but what kids? The would-be pedos talked to adults (many of them employees of Perverted Justice whom Dateline paid -- thus rendering this entire series of specials worthless journalism), there were no kids in the house, and so they didn't get the opportunity to molest any kids. I've always been morally opposed to sting operations -- be they for child molestation, drugs, prostitution, or those dopey little segments on "Cops" where they leave a bike lying around and wait for people to ride it -- and can't see any way to justify sticking a life sentence on someone for intent to commit this kind of crime. Never mind the death penalty. If the creeps caught on camera go and molest some kids, by all means, lock 'em up. There are worse things that can happen to a child than being molested. Being murdered for one. And how many murderers get the death penalty these days...
Of course, half the time, the only pederasts who actually get locked up for life are those who have child pornography on their computers. Just ask that poor sap in Arizona who had 20 such pictures on his. 10 years per photo. Now that's perverted justice.
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First, the intent to have sex with children is there, they engaged in conversation with the kids online, purchased alcohol, condoms, etc. and drove long distances to hook up (several over 100 miles).
To compare that to a bicycle lying around is absurd.
If I shoot someone and "hope" they die but somehow they miraculously survive in a vegetative state for the rest of their life, this isn't murder but it was definitely my intent, so by your argument I should be punished less severely until I actually go kill someone?
It's only a matter of time that one of these people actually do go meet with someone (if they haven't already!!) and there are no cameras present and they do molest some kid and are never seen or caught.
You can make the argument that prevention doesn't work but if one person sees these shows and they decide to not go meet some kid they talked to online, I say well done!
Oh, by the way, these people on the show did not commit any act of molestation, they did break the law and should be punished. To think these crimes don't actually happen is misinformed.
Myspace seems to be the hot topic these days and I agree it's not their fault, but they have created an outlet and should make some easy tweaks to make their sites more safe.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/internet/0 ... index.html
Finally, to call it worthless jounalism is laughable. If one parent spends a little more time discussing it with their children and that one child is more safe online, I hardly find that worthless. If you multiply it by thousands , a much larger justice was served, from a parent-child aspect alone, let alone a potential deterrent to would be predators.
I agree, the parent in me gets a little carried away with all the lynch mob talk, but truly, murdering a child, molesting a child, the outcome should be the same. If you were trying to molest a child and the only reason you didn't was because the camera crews and the police were there......not sure I really care if the punishment is too severe.
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