do police say their supposed age in those online stings?

Question

I think those stings are very good and are doing a great thing but i was wondering if the officers tell the person the age they are pretending to be in order to make it a crime. a lot of people have sexual talks with these peole and get arrested for that which makes sense but if the police dont say their age do they still arrest that person or is it only considered a crime when the police say the age? can or do they arrest people if someone starts a sexual chat with them and are not told the supposed age by the officers because that doesnt sound fair since the officer can at that point pretend to be any age.

Answer 1

If you watch the program, you will see that there is a complete copy of the email exchange between the creep and the "kid" where the "kid" gives his/her age.

Many predators scroll website chat rooms that are popular with our kids. This sting that Dateline has run just puts a name out there and waits for one of these creeps to grab the bait. One of the first thing the creep asks is the age of the person...Understand, they are looking for YOUNG people.

The law says that, when the adult "chatter" knows the age of the "kid", all talk about sex must stop. It is against the law to have a chatroom conversation with a minor about sex or with the purpose of having sex. The predator could be arrested and charged right then.

I think it is great. Those adult creepy males have no business hanging out in kids chat rooms in the first place. They are a bunch of sickos and should be locked up for life.

Answer 2

By law they have to say their "supposed age".

This is what makes it a crime, because if the suspect doesn't know the age of the person they are meeting, it cannot be considered illegal.

Answer 3

I believe they always say the fake age, like 13 or something. It is not a crime unless you know you are conversing with a minor.

Answer 4

They always give a fake age, otherwise it isn't a crime.