"Dateline" is indeed entrapping the men by having the decoys, at least some of the time, bring up the subject of sex and later invite the men to the house for a sexual encounter. I don't necessarily object to this method in extreme cases such as this. But if you accept the traditional legal definition of entrapment – that one is entrapped when "induced or persuaded by law enforcement officers or their agents to commit a crime that he had no previous intent to commit"
http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2006/02/07/publiceye/entry1290135.shtml
Taken from Perverted-Justice's site:
Q: How is this a crime? There was no actual minor!
A: Such a stupid statement. If you're reading this and you've uttered this at any point of your life, feel free to smack yourself for ignorance right now. No, there are no minors involved in what we do. That doesn't matter. What matters is the fact that the male involved in the solicitation is told there is a minor involved. At that point, it's a criminal act in the vast majority of U.S. States. Why?
Let's put it in terms we can all agree with. If I go to what I think is a hitman to order a murder of my wife, I've committed a crime. Even if that "hitman" is an undercover person posing as one for the purposes of catching people conspiring to murder. No one on this planet says "Well hey! How could there be a crime! There was no actual hitman!" If a defense attorney tried that tactic in court to defend someone who solicited for the murder of another person, he would be laughed out of the room. So why would anyone believe there needs to be an "actual minor" when it comes to solicitation? All that needs to exist is the record that the solicitor was informed that the person was a minor and had the intent to have sex with that minor. Just as the charge is the same for a person conspiring to murder with a "fake" or "real" hitman, the charge is philosophically the same for conspiring to have sex with a "fake" or "real" minor.
If you disagree with the above paragraph, feel free to leave our site, never to return. You don't need to be here, we don't want you.