Media Draw Fire for Underage Sex Stings

[EdwardKnoxII 0]

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp...276.htm&sc=1110

 

Media Draw Fire for Underage Sex Stings

By JASON STRAZIUSO

 

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. (AP) - The TV news report is hard to ignore: An unsuspecting man goes to a house where he allegedly thinks a teenage girl is waiting to have sex with him, but instead he is met by a TV reporter with a camera and microphone.

 

TV news directors say the ratings week reports, which have been done in several cities around the nation, raise awareness about the growing problem of Internet-based exploitation of children. They say viewer response is overwhelming and almost entirely positive.

 

But federal and local law enforcement officials say the reports and the groups that help facilitate them do more harm than good because the ``stings'' don't lead to convictions and may put people in danger.

 

``Even well-intended grass-roots undercover investigators can create more harm than good, and we firmly believe that law enforcement investigations should be left to trained law enforcement officials,'' said Michelle Collins, director of the exploited child unit for the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

 

This past week, NBC affiliate WCAU-TV of Philadelphia lured three men allegedly seeking sex with teenagers to a rented house less than a half-mile from an elementary school in the small Philadelphia suburb of Newtown Square. Police were not notified of the station's plans.

 

The local district attorney is investigating whether the station broke any laws.

 

WCAU defended its report.

 

``Child predators on the Internet are a huge problem, and NBC 10 helped raise public awareness of this issue,'' WCAU vice president of news, Chris Blackman, said in a statement. ``In covering this story, NBC 10 believes that no one was put in danger and the station conducted itself responsibly.''

 

About a half-dozen other stations around the country have teamed with the vigilante group Perverted Justice to run similar ``stings.'' Volunteers go into Internet chat rooms and pose as young teens. When men contact the ``teens,'' the group's Web site posts their sexually explicit conversation and often the men's pictures and phone numbers.

 

FBI spokeswoman Linda Vizi said the stings don't help law enforcement because evidence isn't collected in a legal way. Other law enforcement officials have said the ``stings'' can compromise real investigations.

 

``To lure them to some place and post their picture somewhere doesn't stop what they're doing. You're not going to embarrass these guys into stopping,'' Vizi said.

 

Several people have been arrested after tips from Perverted Justice or from the TV news reports but Vizi said arrests don't necessarily translate into convictions.

 

Vizi also said the TV crews may not be prepared if the lured men turn violent.

 

And Tom Bivins, a media ethics professor at the University of Oregon, said the stations' tactics are questionable.

 

``Is it necessary to entrap these people to get the story or could you simply report the story?'' Bivins said. ``Once you get involved, you become part of the story instead of reporting the story.''

 

Regent Ducas, news director of KCTV in Kansas City, which did a series in February, said his station held lengthy discussions about the value and risks of such a story. Two former police officers were hired for security at the house rented for the sting, he said.

 

Sixteen men showed up, Ducas said. He said the report drew the station's highest ratings in a decade and showed that police are overwhelmed by the problem.

 

``We were hoping that our story would start the conversation, should police officers start reallocating resources? Is it time to start treating this problem much more seriously than in the past?'' Ducas said.

 

At least one arrest was made because of a series last month by WDIV in Detroit.

 

``The idea behind it was protecting kids and the awareness of parents,'' said WDIV assistant news director Bob Ellis. ``The story is so outrageous, it's one of those things that's hard to believe until you see it happen. It's scary when you see it as a parent.''

 

On the Net:

 

National Center for Missing Children: http://www.missingkids.com/

 

Perverted Justice: http://www.perverted-justice.com/

 

FBI tip line: http://cybertipline.com/

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

How dare they try to go after child molesters. Why, it would make for a much better story if these people just let the perverts do their thing and report on the crime afterward...

[Vyce 0]

I'm torn about this.

 

On the one hand, the people from Perverted Justice are doing a GREAT service in protecting the public from the whole lot of these sick freaks.....

 

....but I'm not entirely sure whether the way they do it is entirely kosher.

[Guest Anglesault]

Eh, the road to hell and whatnot.

 

It's clear that they mean well, but I can see where the law enforcement agencies are coming from.

[Guest Cerebus]

Ruin these sick fucks lives or send them to jail? I say jail since they are more likey to get the beatings and ass rapings they so richly deserve.

[The Metal Maniac 0]

Personally, I'd like to see the cops step in and help these guys out. If they could get a few people arrested because of this, I think that'd be a huge help, because once those twisted fucks realize that the person they *think* is a 13-year old could easily be a cop waiting for them, that'd act as a deterrent, I think.

[lomasmoney 0]

Yeah, those sick fuckers, I saw one of those stings on the news here and I thought it was funny when the news van followed the guy to his house and was talking to his wife about what he just did. Another thing that troubles me is this trend of like 16 year old girls dating 30 year old men. A girl in my high school was dating a 33 year old man when she was 16. She wasn't exactly poor white trash but more like a rich spoiled princess, and she is going around dating this dude old enough to be her dad while her parents are clueless. This guy was a total loser and lived with his fucking parents. I mean you do have to be a loser if you are approaching 35 and still dating high schoolers no matter how hot they are.

[Vyce 0]

Personally, I'd like to see the cops step in and help these guys out. If they could get a few people arrested because of this, I think that'd be a huge help, because once those twisted fucks realize that the person they *think* is a 13-year old could easily be a cop waiting for them, that'd act as a deterrent, I think.

I don't know if the cops legally can.

 

If the cops were behind this sort of thing, I'm pretty sure that it'd be entrapment, which would mean that any bust they would make on these pervs would instantly get thrown out the window on fifth amendment grounds.

 

Since it's private citizens doing this, though, there's no constitutional violation.

[Vyce 0]

Personally, I'd like to see the cops step in and help these guys out. If they could get a few people arrested because of this, I think that'd be a huge help, because once those twisted fucks realize that the person they *think* is a 13-year old could easily be a cop waiting for them, that'd act as a deterrent, I think.

I don't know if the cops legally can.

 

If the cops were behind this sort of thing, I'm pretty sure that it'd be entrapment, which would mean that any bust they would make on these pervs would instantly get thrown out the window on fifth amendment grounds.

 

Since it's private citizens doing this, though, there's no constitutional violation.

[Perfxion 0]

So true, you said it twice.

 

The pros of this: Gets these people's faces and names out to the public.(cough RF cough) Prevents someone from trying to pick up a teen.

 

The cons of this: It is done for ratings and cop stings lead to jail time.

[Guest Cerebus]

Personally, I'd like to see the cops step in and help these guys out. If they could get a few people arrested because of this, I think that'd be a huge help, because once those twisted fucks realize that the person they *think* is a 13-year old could easily be a cop waiting for them, that'd act as a deterrent, I think.

I don't know if the cops legally can.

 

If the cops were behind this sort of thing, I'm pretty sure that it'd be entrapment, which would mean that any bust they would make on these pervs would instantly get thrown out the window on fifth amendment grounds.

 

Since it's private citizens doing this, though, there's no constitutional violation.

Entrapment is where a police officer or other law enforcement officer induces a person to commit a crime that the person wouldn’t have committed otherwise. I'm pretty sure its not entrapment so long as its the perp who offers to have sex. It's perfectly legal for cops to lie, they do it in interrogation all the time. So posing as a 14 year old is legal as long as they don't tell the 38 year old perv to meet up and have sex it has to be the other way around.

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

Perverted Justice identifies sex criminals to the world...

 

The Government caught Tommy Chong selling bongs on the internet.

 

...

 

...

 

...

 

...

 

I give up.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

Maybe it was a terrorist bong...

[Vyce 0]

Personally, I'd like to see the cops step in and help these guys out. If they could get a few people arrested because of this, I think that'd be a huge help, because once those twisted fucks realize that the person they *think* is a 13-year old could easily be a cop waiting for them, that'd act as a deterrent, I think.

I don't know if the cops legally can.

 

If the cops were behind this sort of thing, I'm pretty sure that it'd be entrapment, which would mean that any bust they would make on these pervs would instantly get thrown out the window on fifth amendment grounds.

 

Since it's private citizens doing this, though, there's no constitutional violation.

Entrapment is where a police officer or other law enforcement officer induces a person to commit a crime that the person wouldn’t have committed otherwise. I'm pretty sure its not entrapment so long as its the perp who offers to have sex. It's perfectly legal for cops to lie, they do it in interrogation all the time. So posing as a 14 year old is legal as long as they don't tell the 38 year old perv to meet up and have sex it has to be the other way around.

True.

 

However, I think that you would agree that the lines would get blurred from time to time, and defense attorneys would have a field day arguing about constitutional violations if the police did run the sting.

 

It's still better if it's done by private citizens. It's not a perfect system these guys are running, but they are doing some good work.

[Jobber of the Week 0]

Question:

 

Would you be upset if your local media made a sweeps week story by inviting a bunch of internet pedophiles to YOUR neighborhood, with no authority to arrest them or do anything but humiliate them, then let them go off into your streets, near your schools, etc?

 

While this embarasses people in the eyes of those who immediately know them (see the waves it made in the world of pro wrestling,) it does nothing to keep them off the streets or to keep them from continuing to prey on children.

 

The people who live nearby have a right to complain.

[The Metal Maniac 0]

Police officers often pose as hookers to bust johns, don't they?

 

I don't see much difference here.

 

But in any event, so long as something like this is being run in any capaticy, it's a good thing.

[Ripper 0]

Question:

 

Would you be upset if your local media made a sweeps week story by inviting a bunch of internet pedophiles to YOUR neighborhood, with no authority to arrest them or do anything but humiliate them, then let them go off into your streets, near your schools, etc?

 

While this embarasses people in the eyes of those who immediately know them (see the waves it made in the world of pro wrestling,) it does nothing to keep them off the streets or to keep them from continuing to prey on children.

 

The people who live nearby have a right to complain.

Would you rather know that a person is out cruising for something young and tender in your community or know nothing (seeing as the police had no clue).

[2GOLD 0]

I mean you do have to be a loser if you are approaching 35 and still dating high schoolers no matter how hot they are.

 

Like all those actors in Hollywood who date the 18 yr old models at the age of 65?

 

Also, they aren't the only group doing this. I forget the name but a group of College girls are posing as 13 yr olds on the net to try and catch people as well.

 

However, aren't they literally going after people for trying to hook up with an imaginery person???

 

Actually, I don't care. Fry the sickos.

[C Dubya 04 0]

It is not entrapment to lure people from the internet. I actually just read an article in Rolling Stone about FBI stings that are done in this exact manner. The problem is authorities can't use the news evidence, so these stings really only embarrass the person, but can't get them in legal trouble.

[Guest Dynamite Kido]

Perverted Justice identifies sex criminals to the world...

 

The Government caught Tommy Chong selling bongs on the internet.

 

...

 

...

 

...

 

...

 

I give up.

My friend....your knowledge is quite evident.