For example, the show To Catch a Predator. They pretty much have people helping law enforcement by enticement and lie about their ages to set these sexual predators up to be busted when they walk in the trap. I am in no way against catching these perverts and I know they must be doing it legally but how is that not entrapment. Did the definition change somwhere along the way?
2007-08-07 18:04:17 · 6 answers · asked by Enigma 6 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
The critical factor in the defense of entrapment is that the person would not have committed the crime but for the actions of the government, in other words that the person was *otherwise unwilling*. That is to say, if the actions of the government were the critical factor which converted an otherwise uninterested person into a criminal, then it will be entrapment. But if the government merely provides the opportunity for a person to act on their own criminal intentions, then it is not entrapment.
A good example is the use of bait cars by some urban police departments, which will park an ordinary looking car by the side of the street and keep it under surveillance. When a person hot-wires the car and tries to drive off, they cut the ignition by remote control and move in. Courts have ruled this procedure is not entrapment. Since the bait car was parked in an ordinary way, such that it did not stand out from other cars, it is clear that any person who tried to steal it was already intent on stealing a car, and that notion was not planted in their minds by anything the police department had done.
On the other hand, if the police department had left the car with the windows open, the doors unlocked, and the keys hanging out of the driver's-side door with a sign that said "be back tomorrow", a situation would be created whereby the notion of stealing the car might be implanted into the mind of a person who otherwise might never have stolen a car. Such a case would be entrapment.
In the case of child molestation, the same reasoning applies, and police must be very careful how they develop the online relationship with the potential molestor: If they go on the internet and say, "Hi im a 17 yr old girl looking for sex! I sure am horny! I really want some sex! call me at this # right away!!!", the very idea of having sex with the girl might be implanted into the mind of a person who otherwise might never have thought of having sex with an underage person. That would be entrapment.
On the other hand, if the police are careful to allow the online relationship to develop so the molestor is the one who brings up the idea of having sex, un-prompted by anything that the child has said online, then it will be clear that the molestor was already intent on committing the crime, and the police could clearly not be accused of putting the idea there. In other words, in such a case the person was not "otherwise unwilling."
There has been a conviction overturned on grounds of entrapment, where child pornography was actively and repeatedly marketed to a person by a government agency. But if a person is already looking for sex online, then it is clearly not entrapment.
2007-08-07 18:29:03 · answer #1 · answered by Jason W 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Entrapment Definition
2016-10-01 23:05:27 · answer #2 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Define Entrapment
2016-12-13 07:41:14 · answer #3 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The legal definition of entrapment is getting someone to do something they wouldn't ordinarily do. Since these guys have a habit of searching the Internet for underage girls, this behavior isn't out of character for them, thus it isn't entrapment.
The fact that their is no minor present is irrelevant, the suspects believe that they are going to meet an underage girl based on their chat logs. The fact that they show up at the house is proof of their intent to engage in sex with a minor, which is a crime in many states.
2007-08-07 19:04:27 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
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RE:
What is the legal definition of "Entrapment?"?
For example, the show To Catch a Predator. They pretty much have people helping law enforcement by enticement and lie about their ages to set these sexual predators up to be busted when they walk in the trap. I am in no way against catching these perverts and I know they must be doing it legally...
2015-08-18 18:08:41 · answer #5 · answered by Alisa 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is when police (law enforcement, or govt authorities) induce the criminal intent -- in other words, when they cause someone to commit a crime that the person would not otherwise have committed without the entrapment.
Creating an opportunity and allowing the person to commit the crime of their own choice is not entrapment.
2007-08-07 18:09:19 · answer #6 · answered by coragryph 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Entrapment is when the police induce, force, or pressure you to commit a crime. For example, if a 20-year-old accomplice asks someone to buy him beer, and he agrees, it is not entrapment. But if the accomplice pressures, coaxes or threatens him if he doesn't buy it, it is entrapment.
2007-08-07 18:08:16 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
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Quibble: The US government did not change the legal definition of torture, nor did anyone working for or on behalf of any US government executive or agency. Rather, John Yoo wrote a memo which said, essentially, "whatever we want to do, including torture, is legal because we want to do it." Being disbarred is much too good for him, IMO.
2016-04-03 06:05:00 · answer #8 · answered by Lorraine 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋