Online Sex Solicitation Sting Nabs Six People
Officials arrested a half-dozen men between the ages of 23 and 66 who allegedly tried to have sexual relations with who they believed to be an underage girl.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, all six individuals chatted online with “girls.” Several committed additional offenses, such as a child pornography offense or attempting to meet with the “girl.”
“Stopping child predators is a critical part of law enforcement, and I am proud of the outstanding work of our detectives and partners in making these arrests,” said Sheriff Mike Chapman in a statement. “Actions like these are extremely disturbing and highlight the need for parents and guardians to actively monitor their children’s use of electronic devices and chat applications.”
Common Online Sex Solicitation Charges
According to government statistics, only about 4 percent of children under 18 report “aggressive solicitation” from an online adult. Although online sex crimes are rare, about two-thirds of parents say they’re concerned about such offenses. Since parents vote and pay taxes, if they’re concerned, authorities are concerned.
“Aggressive solicitation” is usually a three-step process. So, in these cases, a Leesburg criminal defense lawyer usually deals with one or more charges:
- Using a Computer to Communicate With a Child: It’s illegal to communicate with an underage minor via the internet. Or, we should say it’s illegal to communicate with someone the defendant believes is an underage minor. Establishing this element is difficult, because most people know that most online personas are mostly fake.
- Child Pornography: Asking for a nude picture is solicitation, asking a “child” to take a naked picture is production of child pornography, and viewing such a picture (as opposed to merely downloading one) is possession of child pornography. This offense doesn’t have a reasonable belief of age requirement. So, the defense mentioned above is unavailable in most online child pornography cases.
- Attempted Indecent Liberties: This horrific-sounding offense simply means the defendant tried to meet the “girl.” Showing up at a private address, like a hotel room, at a certain time is almost bulletproof evidence in these cases. Showing up at a public place at a certain time could just be a coincidence.
Sex offenses aren’t equal. In fact, some are misdemeanors and not felonies. However, most people believe sex offenders are homogenous. A Romeo and Juliet relationship, if Juliet was a few months too young, is as bad as a middle-age adult randomly attacking a random child.
Procedural and Affirmative Defenses
Chat transcripts and illegal images often involve search warrants. These warrants must be based on probable cause affidavits. The uncorroborated word of a nosy neighbor or other such informant usually isn’t reliable.
These people might provide accurate information. But accurate information isn’t always reliable. A broken clock is accurate twice a day. And, for search warrant purposes, reliability is the only quality that counts. Prosecutors cannot work backwards and argue that accurate information was reliable. Tips stand or fall on their own based on the information available at the time.
As for affirmative defenses, entrapment occasionally, but rarely, applies in online sex solicitation or related cases.
This defense only holds up in court if the defendant had no predisposition to commit the crime. If an undercover officer reached out to the defendant on Facebook or another “normal” social media channel, this element might be present. But if the defendant was in a sex chat room, the defendant had some predisposition to commit the crime, even if that predisposition was very slight.
Connect With a Tough-Minded Loudoun County Lawyer
There’s a big difference between an arrest and a conviction in criminal law. For a confidential consultation with an experienced criminal defense attorney in Leesburg, contact Simms Showers, LLP, Attorneys at Law. We routinely handle matters throughout Northern Virginia.
Source:
insidenova.com/headlines/six-arrested-in-loudoun-county-child-predator-chat-operation/article_4a033b3c-fbf9-11ee-8ed6-833c459378e0.html
