Ruling threatens stings in child-sex cases

[kweerwolf]

Things looked bad for Jan Helder of Mission Hills when a federal jury convicted the lawyer Tuesday of using the Internet to try to entice a child into sex.

He faced a sentence of five to 30 years — but for only a few minutes.

Quick relief came from a federal judge in Kansas City. He acquitted Helder, 42, in a landmark ruling that could, if it stands, threaten federal prosecution programs nationwide that use undercover agents to trap child-sex offenders.

Helder’s attorney successfully argued that breaking federal law required actually enticing a minor — not enticing a Platte County deputy pretending to be a minor.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/12288360.htm

[Gyre]

1. Don't worry. There are hundreds of pols in Washington

who will be falling over each other to amend the law to cover this. So they can tell their constituents just how wonderful they are.:(

Gyre

[MadHound]

2. As much as I despise and loathe pedophiles,

I think that this is a good thing in the long run. Entirely too many law enforcement agencies go over the line into entrapment and enticement in these kind of cases. It is nice to see somebody wanting some boundaries drawn and limits set on this sort of matter. Hopefully it will get appealed up to the Supreme Court for a definitive ruling.

[XboxWarrior]

3. the baby jebus......

hates registration sites

[Ian David]

5. Go to www.BugMeNot.com for login and password. n/t

[kweerwolf]

4. I have really mixed feelings on this.

On the one hand I think pedophiles should be strung up by their genitals. But on the other hand, I think some of these sting operations take things a bit too far.

One of the local TV channels did a piece on a private group that does sting operations on line and then posts the "conversations" and photos of the alleged perpetrators on a web site. Some of those conversations really strike me as being borderline entrapment. What was sad is that the TV station aired the piece accusing these men of soliciting underage girls on line without the men ever having been convicted - or even charged - as pedophiles.

There's a happy medium that needs to be reached. Young people need to be protected online, but there also has to be limits placed on over-zealous sting operations.

On edit ... here's a link to one of the local stories about the TV station and the "sting" operation:

http://www.pitch.com/issues/2004-03-11/news/strip.html