"Entrapment" isn't a charge; it's a defense, and it doesn't arise out of the actions of a private citizen.

I'll probably get beat up for this, but I agree with everything Ekuth said, but that said, I don't know what the OP really thought when posting. I think he invited discussion, which has been forthcoming. There is nothing morally acceptable on either side about the incident he presented. And as I pointed out in my OP of the Knock-out Game thread, society continues to find new lows of acceptable behavior.

Frankly, it's been interesting reading y'alls views here. I don't belive this thread should be "locked" so long as it remains civil, which it has been to this point.

Agreed. Provided the video is what it claims to be.

"There's no need for insults. I brought my question here because I thought it would be the one place on the Internet (that I know of) where we could have a civilised discussion".
You're new here aren't you



Let him go to prison. Many times there is more justice in prison than in our courts. As long as he is put in "general population" he'll have his day in "court".

This is a slippery slope. The ones doing the beating should have to face the judge. I hold to the statement "Inoccent until proven guilty". Then beat the Cr*p out of him. Of course if it was my Daughter and I was there, I can't imagine that I would wait for the authorities to arrive. Hypocritical? Yes! I'm only Human.

Too often false accusations are brought against someone. This case may be solid but I don't like the idea of vigilante style justice (Trevon Martin?). Let the courts decide and if the courts don't do their job, petition the courts.

The 13 year old should have made the meeting arragement but should have involved the Police instead of Friends. Sounds like the 13 year old was maybe looking for trouble. The whole story is weird and I'm not sure how accurate the story really is. Too many holes in the story. How about a link to the video? It might help in our judgements.
Iven

Hi Iven,

This is a link to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9YeuHwMzL4

I agree with most that they should have all been prosecuted. I am certainly not defending or supporting the suspected-pedophile - despite what most people seem to think!
However, I still don't believe that intent alone is enough to have you reputation ruined. It should have been left to the courts to serve a fair punishment, consistent with the fairly minor crime he committed.

Also, this incident does beg the question: How young is too young?
Interestingly, in Japan the age of consent is 13, and it seems the UK is heading that way too. As I said, if this 13 year old girl was mature enough to understand what he wanted and then to formulate a plan to trick him into her house, was she really too young to consent? As I understand it, "age of consent" laws are put in place to stop minors from being taken advantage of.

Finally, as someone else stated, it's not our place to pass judgement on anyone without knowing the full circumstances, and as such, I maintain my view that the matter should have been left to the courts to establish whether he was guilty. It was not for those thugs to ruin this man's life.

Mike

I see where you are coming from Mike and I agree with you, except for the age of consent. I think the 18 year age of consent is ok but many (too many) 18-20+ year olds don't make good choices in Life and are younger (mentaly) than their years.

It used to be 13 some states but I don't think this is true any longer. Canada was 15 when I was traveling with the Circus in 1977.

The guy still has problems that need to be addressed.

Famous pedophiles do very little time, if any time at all. Jerry Sandusky of Penn State is now doing time in the State Pen. I was very surprised that he did not get the treatment that many of the "Catholic" Priest's get when they are caught doing the same thing. They tend to get reasigned to another Church and never go to the Pen.

It's a strange World we live in.
Iven

Rough just justice is a dangerous thing. However we have leaders. And what is it that we do with leaders but follow them. Have our leaders been meeting out rough justice?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Gy5MUdHK54

In Afghanistan the age of consent is 9, they marry them.

Yes, we should bomb them.

"In the USA in the 1890s, several states had an age of consent as low as 10. In 1895, the age of consent in Delaware was 7."

That is just plain wrong! Sick in my book.
I'm going to check my History on that one.
Iven

Here is the link to the newspaper article from circa 1895 reporting what I mentioned:

http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-fre......649ED7CF

You have to click through to access the actual article. If your browser does not display the pdf properly, save it to disk and / or open it directly in a pdf viewer.

"PURITY CONGRESS MEETS; A Great Gathering for Moral Work in the City of Baltimore. AIMS AND OBJECTS OF THE MOVEMENT Determined to Prevent State Regulation of Vice and to Rescue Fallen Men and Fallen Women". The New York Times. October 15, 1895.