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Internet child sex stings can raise serious questions

On Behalf of | Mar 24, 2014 | Sex Crimes

A couple of months ago in Lake County, FL, law enforcement conducted a successful “child predator sex sting”. Now Seminole County has joined the fight against internet predators.

26 men have been accused of contacting people online, whom they believed to be children. Actually, they were members of law enforcement in disguise. This was a wide-ranging group of men. The youngest was 19, the oldest 51. So who were their intended prey? Youngsters between the ages of 11 and 14. This is every parent’s greatest fear. Their innocent children being contacted and harassed online by strange men. 

For a defense attorney, this can be an interesting case. On one hand, you must defend men that are considered menaces to any children near by. But on the other hand, aren’t the police really entrapping these men? Obviously, none of us want a crime to be committed, especially against a child, but predicting crime has a “Minority Report” feel to it.

What makes these cases even odder is the fact that these alleged criminals are usually “ordinary joes”. Out of the 26 men arrested in Seminole County, we had postal workers, security guards, pizza delivery men and landscapers. People you may deal with on a daily basis.

It’s important for them to obtained a skilled attorney for these situations. The state is uber-aggressive with a case such as this, and this is not even counting the FBI and their advanced group of computer forensic experts.

Operation “Safenet” included police departments in Apopka, Oviedo, Sanford, Longwood, Casselberry and sheriff’s offices in Orange and Volusia county. 

The good news is that children are safer than ever online. But does this mean we shouldn’t question the methods used by law enforcement?