Aerosoul
04-27-2006, 11:01 AM
April 25, 2006 -- The civilian group going after ****** predators on the Internet may run into legal problems when trying to reach their goal of getting convictions.
The El Paso Police Department said it's harder than it looks. The Jail Bait Justice operation is simple in concept. "We go on the Internet on different chat rooms and we pose as young girls ages 13 to 16," said Michael Blank who started Jail Bait Justice in El Paso.
Blank, along with others, try to identify ****** predators targeting children and ultimately get them convicted using a transcript of the chat as evidence.
But Sgt. Andrea Baca with the Crimes Against Children division of the El Paso Police Department said it's not that easy.
"I think there's a lot of legal issues that they need to take into account. In my opinion I'd prefer they not be vigilantes online," said Baca. The Jail Bait Justice group said they know there are various guidelines to follow.
"There's certain guidelines you have to follow. You can't initiate any kind of ****** contact with them -- that's considered entrapment. You have to wait until they initiate with you," said Blank.
Baca said if a member of Jail Bait Justice reports an alleged ****** predator on the Internet, police would have to investigate, but getting a conviction would be difficult.
"We've researched this issue before and even the district attorney in El Paso would say we would have a lot of legal issues, and they probably wouldn't take the case. They wouldn't take the case," said Baca.
Source (http://www.kfoxtv.com/news/8997878/detail.html?subid=22105263&qs=1;bp=t) ....
The El Paso Police Department said it's harder than it looks. The Jail Bait Justice operation is simple in concept. "We go on the Internet on different chat rooms and we pose as young girls ages 13 to 16," said Michael Blank who started Jail Bait Justice in El Paso.
Blank, along with others, try to identify ****** predators targeting children and ultimately get them convicted using a transcript of the chat as evidence.
But Sgt. Andrea Baca with the Crimes Against Children division of the El Paso Police Department said it's not that easy.
"I think there's a lot of legal issues that they need to take into account. In my opinion I'd prefer they not be vigilantes online," said Baca. The Jail Bait Justice group said they know there are various guidelines to follow.
"There's certain guidelines you have to follow. You can't initiate any kind of ****** contact with them -- that's considered entrapment. You have to wait until they initiate with you," said Blank.
Baca said if a member of Jail Bait Justice reports an alleged ****** predator on the Internet, police would have to investigate, but getting a conviction would be difficult.
"We've researched this issue before and even the district attorney in El Paso would say we would have a lot of legal issues, and they probably wouldn't take the case. They wouldn't take the case," said Baca.
Source (http://www.kfoxtv.com/news/8997878/detail.html?subid=22105263&qs=1;bp=t) ....