by WolverineSyr » Mon Oct 23, 2006 6:07 am
I don't find the show to be alarmist. I think it protrays just how easy it is to find a ton of guys who are willing to have sex with a 13 year old over the internet. I do find it a bit irresponsible though in the sense that they're not exactly making a good case for law enforcement to prosecute them.
I recently went to a training held by the FBI. The woman who facilitated is someone who goes online posing as a 13 year old. She had a lot of great stories and some really sobering stuff. She doesn't post anything more than her age & gender & non-descript info. She said within a minute she'll have 10 guys privating her, sending photos of their dicks, etc.
What made an impact on me is that to really prosecute someone properly for this type of offense, it's best to leave the work to the professionals. Civilians who are trying to entrap pedophiles are not doing law enforcement any favors. It's rare that civilians will have the proper evidence & can really screw a case up.
I guess I'm just saying that in case anyone here wants to go vigillante online. Don't do it.
By the way - throw the idea of "intent" being something less than committing the actual crime out the window. If you've propositioned a child on line and travel to meet up with them (even if it's a few blocks,)- it's a serious offense with (I think) a minimum of 10 - 25 years. They call them "traveller" cases.
She wasn't against these shows, but really emphasized that it's FBI's job to collect evidence & prosecute these cases.
I've said it before, but parents out there really should contact your kid's school & ask them to invite one of the FBI's agents to do a program for parents. Every town has a local office & probably someone who's job is to go out & do this stuff. It's free & you really need to hear it.